Gradient
by Pen of Silver
Summary: It was originally just a minor setback, that quickly spiraled into a major one. Weiss reflected as she stared up at the elaborate flag of the White Fang that looked like a wolf's head with a splatter of blood over it. (Partner AU). In which Weiss is so happily partnered with the very person she hated the most. Monochrome.
1. Here Kitty

**AN: So... I'm not quite sure what this is nor am I quite sure where I want to go. I've been watching a lot of RWBY so I figured I might as well write something about it. I'm going to be messing with the plotline a lot but I digress. I hope all you enjoy the story. And for those of you who are following my other stories... Change of Fate should be getting updated fairly soon and so should Spilled Ink. Legend... ehh.**

* * *

White

**Here Kitten…**

* * *

"What in the world do you think you're doing you oaf?" Blake looked up from her book. Wonderful. It was that little spot of sunshine she had had the pleasure to meet in the morning, or _Weiss Schnee _heiress to the Schnee Company as said person seemed to enjoy announcing to the world.

The heiress stalked away from whomever she had been talking to with a huff. From the corner of her eye, Blake caught a glimpse of a black and red cloak flutter and a girl that looked far too young to be attending Beacon trailing after the heiress, stammering apologies.

Blake's gaze went back to her book.

It was lights out in about twenty minutes so she'd prefer to enjoy her book while it lasted. Although… she could probably read in the dark if she tried. The bow on her head twitched. The air in the hall was rather stuffy, although that was to be expected with over 500 prospective students crammed into the hall. By the time initiation was over, that number would be cut in half at the very least.

Voices flowed over her ears again.

"Oh now you're on my side!"

"I was always on your side!"

"Hey what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!" This was a new voice.

Blake glanced upwards; placing fiery blonde hair with a voice that sounded equally as exuberant before looking back at her book. Hopefully she'd get at least a paragraph in before…

"Oof." Weiss groaned as Yang sent her flying with a single fist, crashing next to Blake with a thud and a hiss. Blake felt her forehead twitch. "You brute! How dare you set your filthy hands on an heiress of the Schnee Dust Company."

Her voice was infinitely more grating up close than at a distance.

Weiss glanced offhandedly to the side.

"Sorry about tha…" Weiss' voice trickled off into nothingness as Blake locked golden eyes with blue orbs that looked like they had been carved from ice.

"You." The word was spat out with as much venom as Blake had heard from a single person.

"Yes, me." Blake replied dryly, setting a bookmark where she had left off in her book. She was not probably going to get much reading done tonight. Blake cautiously ran an eye over the heiress, noting the exquisite blue silk nightgown that she was clad in. Such a piece must have cost a fortune. Silk was a rare commodity in Vale, harvested from the cocoons of specific insect grimm before they were born. She briefly wondered how many people had died to make that piece. Fire flickered in her stomach.

"My apologies for interrupting your reading." Weiss said curtly, standing up and brushing herself off. Well this was a surprise. Blake thought quietly. Watching the heiress' hands clench into fists, ice blue eyes roving for that mass of golden blonde hair that had so easily sent her flying…

Then the lights flickered off.

For a moment, all Weiss did was stare. "Can this day get any worse?" She grumbled to herself, groping around in the dark for something to get her bearings on, trying not to accidently touch someone as she stumbled toward the west wall.

Blake watched all of this with a detached amusement. It was like watching a little bird attempt to fly. It was pointless and pathetic. Blake shrugged and curled up on her mattress, trying to sleep. A muffled curse and a hastily mumbled apology caught her ear.

After several attempts at tuning out the noise Blake sighed and stood up, not making a sound as she ghosted next to the heiress and wordlessly tugged her along, ignoring the outraged protest as she led the heiress toward her destination.

Blake's skin crawled at the contact, her instinct screaming at her to just _let go _of that detestable human hand, memories of whips and canes flashing through her mind. Memories she had tried to forget.

The texture of the heiress' skin was not as smooth as one might have thought, covered with calluses from handling of the silver rapier the heiress wielded, and Blake focused on that, resisting the urge to flinch and drop the hand like a burning coal.

After setting the heiress down with a shove Blake settle back down into her mattress. _So this is beacon huh…? _She thought. Her fingers anxiously grasped the sides of her pillow with a steel grip. The last time she had slept without a blade at her side was ten years ago and she had never willingly closed her eyes in a room full of strangers and potential enemies.

Needless to say, it was a long night.

* * *

Yang yawned and wearily rolled out of her bed. If a 2 inch thick mattress could be called a bed that is. The blonde groaned and stretched, blearily looking around for something, anything that contained caffeine in it. With a dull clink a mug full of the elixir of life was settled in front of her.

"I love you sis." Yang mumbled, before downing the mug in one gulp.

As the caffeine began to work her magic she noticed something.

"Umm… Ruby. Where is everyone else?" She asked curiously, gazing around the empty hall.

Ruby gave her _that _look, the one that she had always been given when they were children and she had just messed up something major like stealing the last cookie in the jar or that one time she had "accidently" spilled grease over Crescent Rose.

"My dear sister Yang…" Ruby began, in a tone that was about as threatening as someone like Ruby could make it. "Of all the days you sleep in…" She screamed, eyes flaring a dangerous silver color.

Yang dropped her mug on the ground and made for it like a madman. "How late am I?" She sputtered.

"WE! How late are we! Because like the caring sister I am I waited for you." Ruby snarled. "And everyone else left about thirty minutes ago."

"We are so screwed…" Yang mumbled.

They made it into the locker room just as the last people trickled out. With reckless abandon, Ruby hastily punched in the five digit code to her locker and snatched Crescent Rose from its cradle. The massive scythe whirred and clicked as it compressed into its compacted form and Ruby slung the massive instrument of death over her back.

"If we're lucky..."

"Which we most likely will be." Yang chimed.

"Then we'll get there before initiation starts." Ruby finished.

"Hey, well what better way to start the day than a nice jog? Gets the blood running am I right rubes?" Yang chuckled, Ember Cecilia encasing her hands with several mechanized whirs.

Ruby sighed. "I suppose it is a good warm-up…" She conceded.

"That's the spirit." Yang cheered, clapping her sister on the back. The heavy metal gauntlet on her hand made the relatively innocent pat into a blow akin to being struck by a hammer. "Now let's go kick some a-"

A finger jabbed her on the nose.

"Language." Ruby chided as they ran to where the others were waiting.

Yang sighed as she watched her sister race towards the massive cliff where they were supposed to rendezvous. She smiled a bit sadly to herself. _They grow up so fast. _She thought affectionately, remembering the days when it was her protecting her little sister, her chiding her for spilling the orange juice on the rug, it all seemed so long ago and now her little sis was all grown up.

"Come on slowpoke! What are you? An old lady?"

Then again, maybe not.

* * *

Weiss Schnee was normally a patient girl. In fact, her father often said that she was wise beyond her years, his pride a swelling fire when he got to show her off to his colleagues. Then again, initiation day was hardly a day one could call normal and here they were, waiting for two uncivilized, unscrupulous, ruffians to get to the rendezvous point because someone had the nerve to sleep in.

Weiss Schnee was not a happy girl.

Her eyes flickered to the left and to the light.

Beside her stood two people, one looking positively apathetic, and the other was grinding his teeth while his mace spun idly in his hands. One Blake Belladonna and one Cardin Winchester. If she had to pick one that she disliked more… she would have grudgingly chosen Blake. If only because although Cardin Winchester was an arrogant prick who thought that he was the greatest thing since the invention of dust but at the very least he didn't slander her family at every turn.

Weiss sighed and tapped her foot impatiently. It had been ten minutes, twenty seven seconds and counting. If they didn't start by noon there would be hell to pay.

"Geesh Rubes. Look at the view!" A loud boisterous voice bellowed. Yang Xiao Long made her presence known.

_Why am I not surprised…? _Weiss thought as she watched Yang and Ruby meander their way to the side of the cliff. Of course it was those two. Though Weiss did have to admit, it was a gorgeous view. The cliff overlooked an immense forest that was barely shaded with the glowing hues of fall. A gentle wind blew, making the forest almost seem alive as a horde of leaves danced their way into the wind.

"Miss Xiao Long, glad to see you can join us." Professor Ozpin said simply, a detached smile on his face.

"Indeed." Professor Goodwitch snapped, her usual severe expression fixed to her face. "You may have set a new record Miss Xiao Long, Miss Rose, for being the only two students to receive detention before they set foot in a classroom."

"It was Yang's fault."

"RUBY!" Yang yelped indignantly.

"Regardless… I'm sure Professor Goodwitch will have a suitable punishment planned for both of you. Now if you don't mind, we have an initiation to begin." Professor Ozpin said smoothly.

"Now, I'm sure all of you have heard many things about the initiation, rest assured… "

* * *

_God Damnit Ozpin. _

That was the thought racing through the majority of the new student's minds. Well all except for one, which would be one Jaune arc, whose thoughts could be properly summarized in: _F*&amp;*&amp;^*&amp;^*! _But more or less, everyone was trained for this whether through a formal school of training or simply from experience, which was why when Blake was suddenly sent flying through the air, her only noticeable reaction was a quick blink of the eyelids.

If anyone had cared to pay attention, they would have also noticed how the bow on top of her head stood slightly straighter but again, most of them were more concerned about themselves. With a casual flick of her wrist, Gambol Shroud wrapped itself around a randomly protruding tree branch and Blake swung gracefully onto the ground.

Now all she had to do was find her partner. The person, as she was loath to be reminded, who she would be stuck with for all four years of beacon. Well that and stay alive, she reminded herself as her sensitive nostrils caught the acrid scent of Grimm. After quickly dusting herself off, Blake vanished into the forest with a flicker of her semblance in the opposite direction of that disgusting scent; cats didn't go looking for trouble. More often than not, trouble found them.

Sadly, that statement would hold quite true.

After racing through the woods for about ten minutes, she still hadn't found anyone. She wasn't quite sure whether she should be grateful or nervous. After all, by this point many of her classmates had probably found their partners. It was a small comfort that there were an even amount of students so no one would be left out.

Blake sighed and slowed down her breakneck pace toward the center of the forest. Logically, the temple would be in the centermost portion of the forest but she supposed she'd prefer to find her partner first. A zephyr gusted through the forest, sending the forest into a symphony as leaves and branches rumbled and sang. Well so long as she wasn't stuck with someone _too _obnoxious it should be bearable.

Well who would she mind getting stuck with? Weiss Schnee obviously. That girl had an ego the size of her father's company. Any other faunus hating prick in the school on top of that. _Well that only leaves a couple people… _Blake thought wryly. The wind gusted the wind, a gentle sweet scent drifted through the air. It was too strong to be natural and for a moment it almost seemed familiar. Blake sniffed at the air again. It was definitely familiar, although she couldn't quite place where she had encountered it before.

Ten years ago, she would have balked at following the scent of something she had never seen or encountered. It was tantamount to suicide back then. But now it was Beacon and she was just a girl named Blake Belladonna trying to become a huntress.

So why not?

* * *

Weiss twitched her head as she paused on a tree branch, glyph alight beneath her feet, ready to propel her into the air at a moment's notice. She swore she heard something just then. Then again, what couldn't she hear? The forest was ablaze with sound, from the far away rumbles of Grimm to the small leaves dancing their way to the ground.

Weiss shrugged and propelled herself forward with her glyph. Trees and shrubs alike all blurred together into an unmanageable blur at the speed she was moving at. It was moments like this when she felt free, like she could take on the world. She laughed aloud at the raw ecstasy of the moment and forced herself to go faster, faster-

A black blur intercepted her and with a dull thud, and an impact that hurt far more than she would have liked to admit, she was sent flying into the ground.

Weiss groaned and rubbed her head, attempting to unscramble her vision. Only to meet two golden amber orbs that looked equally as pained as she felt. For a moment there was silence.

Then dread set in.

"You." She said.

Annoyance seemed to cloud those annoyingly luminescent amber orbs. "Yes me." She said dryly, a hint of amusement in that deep tone. It was a rather cruel twist of fate.

Weiss sighed and hauled herself to her feet.

"You know of all the people I met…" Weiss began.

"You were the only one I would have minded being partnered with." Blake finished dryly.

"Well we can at least agree on something." Weiss said flatly.

Blake Belladonna was her partner.

Wonderful.

* * *

~Elsewhere in the forest

"RUUUUUBBBBBY!"

"YAAAAAAANNNNNG!"

Who said the universe didn't play favorites?


	2. The Morning After

Gainesboro

**The Morning After.**

* * *

"Team leader!" Jean laughed as he spun around happily. He was clearly ecstatic, "Can you believe it?" he cried, exuberance leaking out of every pore in his body as he turned around to face his team. The newly declared leader of team JNPR was met with one dead pan state, one equally as ecstatic, and a tired smile from his partner.

"Yes Jaune, you are the leader." Pyrrha said, looking at her partner fondly. "But it's late at night, and I think all of us could benefit from some sleep." Pyrrha said, much awaiting the opportunity to collapse into a nice, feathery, light bed.

They had received the key card and assignment to their room from head master Ozpin moments after the induction ceremony. Then with his usual nonchalance the head master had walked right out of the banquet hall, coffee in hand mumbling to himself all the while. Their room was fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately located opposite of team RWBY's room.

And speaking of which….

Ruby crashed into their room, looking equally as excited as Jaune. "Congratulations Jaune!" She cried happily, hug-tackling him into the ground. As the two rolled around like excited children, Pyrrha glimpsed the other members of team RWBY glancing into the room from the doorway.

Blake had an amused smile on her face as she looked at their respective team leaders celebrating their appointment as leaders. The black themed girl was flanked by her partner Weiss, who briefly looked into the room and left with a grimace and a shake of her head.

As ambitious as Weiss was, Pyrrha wasn't surprised at the reaction. It was probably hard for her to deal with Ruby as team leader, especially considering the girl was making a happy mess of mayhem across their previously organized room. Pyrrha felt a hand grasp her on the shoulder, she looked up to meet brilliant turquoise eyes inches from her face.

"Nora!" She exclaimed, backing away. "Don't scare me like that." She exclaimed, Milo already in her right hand, Auko hovering briefly over her forearm in its ready stance. In Sanctum they had been trained to be ready at a moment's notice. The gleaming gladius that she had in her hands was evidence of that as she slowly sheathed the blade.

"Sorry Pyrrha." Nora said, uncaring that she had narrowly escaped being impaled by a potentially dangerous weapon. "But Ren wants to tell you that the beds are ready. He says you look tired."

Pyrrha inwardly thanked the common sense of the last member of her team as she cast a backwards glance at Jaune and Ruby. Hopefully they'd stop messing around sometime… although she mused, with an affectionate smile on her face, it was nice seeing Jaune so happy. He was so innocent. Had he ever killed before? Had he ever ended a life, felt the breath leave the body?

Now it looked like Ruby was comparing weapons with Jaune, the massive red death scythe unraveling from its compact form.

Oh dear. This didn't bode well.

"Ruby", She called.

Said child looked up.

"Yes Pyrrha?" She asked innocently, eyes gleaming with a sort of childish joy.

"I think your team is waiting for you to open their door." Pyrrha said amused, pointing over at Weiss, Blake, and Yang who were looking increasingly tired as they leaned against the door to their room. Yang was already dozing off, catching herself just as her head jerked down to met the floor. Weiss and Blake simply stood in a sort of awkward silence, no conversation stemming between the two.

"Woops." Ruby said, dashing over the door of her team in a flurry of rose petals. Pyrrha blinked at that. Speed? It was an interesting semblance, not quite as versatile or useful as her magnetism or Weiss' glyphs but impressive none the less especially considering the behemoth of a weapon the girl wielded.

Pyrrha turned her attention to Jaune, a smile breaking briefly across her face as she looked at his disheveled air. Rough housing on the ground with Ruby had taken its toll, although he still had the charm of a puppy, rolling around in the mud.

"Jaune." She said simply.

Jaune looked up at her awkwardly, his previous carefree attitude with Ruby gone as he stared up at the somewhat intimidating scarlet haired girl, who as Weiss had reminded him, had been the top of her class at Sanctum.

Pyrrha smiled at him. "Congratulations on becoming leader." She said, facing him long enough to see that radiant smile break across his face. He had a good heart. She had felt his kindness in his aura, the nobility in the actions that he committed, and the forgiving nature that was so often lacking in the ruthless business of hunting and huntressing.

It was… nice.

With that thought, Pyrrha walked toward Nora and Ren eager to get to her comfortable bed. It looked like Nora had claimed one of the beds as her and was using it to bounce herself to Ren's bed and then back, with the jubilance of a child.

This was one thing that Sanctum never had. Sanctum had treated its student's like adults, never allowing for any breaks, any luxuries, and any _friends_. Here, it was different and as she exchanged a sympathetic look with Ren as Nora swung around his neck, she knew that she had arrived at a place she could perhaps call, home.

* * *

It was a new experience Blake reflected, living with people. For so long it had been just her and Adam with two swords, against the world. The moment Ruby had opened the door, Blake had immediately pinpointed the potential exits: two windows, and a single air vent located in the corner of the room.

After that, the next thing Blake had noticed were the four beds in the room, neatly placed in the corners with accompanying desks and wardrobes. A large bookshelf was against one wall and a single bathroom was nestled into the corner.

Everything smelled like opulence. The wood she could tell had been carefully varnished to give it that gorgeous brown color, the room had a breath taking view of the grounds of Beacon and everywhere she looked, she couldn't fathom a want for anything else. She took a peek at the map of Beacon and she had been shocked at the facilities.

Two swimming pools, 5 separate training areas, two large amphitheaters for televised sparring and music, along with a kitchen headed by some of the best chefs in Vale. It was like a dream, a misbegotten fairy tale that she half feared would be gone when she next opened her eyes.

Yes this place was different. Too different. But that was what she wanted, didn't she? She wanted to wake up without blade in hand, heart beating like a rabbit, fear coursing through her veins. Here was a place where she could forget everything and start anew.

Or maybe not, Blake thought wryly as pure white tresses came into view from the corner of her eyes.

"The first thing were doing tomorrow, is getting our keycards." Weiss proclaimed irritably, pinning Ruby with a frigid glare when the girl opened her mouth to stammer an apology. Weiss proceeded to stalk off into bed in the corner. Said bed was the farthest away from Ruby, Blake noted with a hint of amusement.

While normally Yang would have been the first to jump to her sister's defense, the blonde was currently collapsed in a bed, yawning as she curled up.

With one eye open, Blake watched the rest of her team mates collapse into their bunks. Ruby and Yang were out in moments, eyes heavy, despite the earlier excitement of the day. Gentle breaths and the occasional snore echoed through the room as the two went to sleep. Blake watched the two other members of her team for a moment.

Ruby was so full of energy, so vibrant and alive. It was a stark contrast to their first meeting, a meek looking girl with all her insecurities bared on her sleeve, tugged along by her sister to make a clumsy attempt at becoming friends. The girl was also hopelessly naïve. There were plenty of villains, but no heroes in this world.

Yang carried that same air, that same spirit that was tempered by her unassuming nonchalance. The golden brawler was certainly spirited, spouting insults at the Nevermore as she hammered shotgun shells down its open throat. Granted she was relatively more mature, relatively being the operative word, but Yang carried an air of assurance about her. That feeling that she could take on anything the world threw at her at would come out on top.

And then… there was the last member of their little entourage. Weiss made herself known with that distinct scent of lavender that assaulted her senses before cooling into a smell that was crisp and cold, like the north wind in a bottle. Blake didn't know how to deal with the heiress. She had been a member of the white fang, and Weiss was a Schnee, that fact alone would spawn some conflict further down the line. It would be so much easier just to cut ties now, ask for a transfer of teams, sever their partnership with a couple well placed words.

Not to say anything about Weiss' attitude to faunus. The girl was undoubtedly biased, automatically locating as far as humanly possible from the nearest faunus. But beyond that, beyond the cold mask, the regal air, who was Weiss Schnee? Blake was good at reading people, a necessity when her previous life had dealt with deceit and treachery but with Weiss… Was there anything hidden beneath that thin veneer? Or was this truly who the Schnee heiress was?

Weiss caught her staring and for a moment, ice blue met liquid amber. The ugly scar that traced its way across one eye stared back at her, inwardly Blake wondered at the origin of the wound. Was it a training accident? An abusive family?

"Yes?" Weiss asked simply, voice loaded with the intent to antagonize. However, Blake couldn't help but notice how Weiss had lowered the volume of her voice, the way her ice blue eyes had flickered toward Ruby and Yang before staring back at her.

"Can't I watch my partner?" Blake responded coolly. It would no doubt be a painful reminder to Weiss. That the mighty Schnee heiress was partnered with someone like her. An ingrate and a mongrel as Weiss so kindly put it.

There was silence for a moment. Piercing blue eyes locked Blake in place and for a moment, Blake felt like she was being disassembled, like her core qualities were laid out for the world to see, a neat little puzzle piece sitting on the floor, waiting for a child to pick up the pieces and evaluate every single one.

Weiss just laughed, a short strangled little chuckle.

"Partner." The white haired girl said amused, like she it was the funniest thing she had heard.

"Well then, partner." Weiss said, cool blue eyes glinting like chips of ice. "I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

Jaune wasn't quite sure what to feel at the moment. Everyone had fallen asleep already and now, here he was, clad in his onesie, sitting on the balcony. It was so odd, to think that he would be leader. It had been amazing the instant he had been declared leader. It was ecstatic, a dream come true for that duration on stage, that maybe he Jaune Arc really was all that the world said he was. Then reality had set in. He had no training in any of the martial arts just the name. Arc. An Arc dressed in an onesie.

His father would have either died laughing or committed honorable suicide.

Arc was the name of heroes. The very first of bearer of the name Arc had liberated most of Vale from the Grimm, the second had established the order of hunters and huntresses. That was his legacy, one that he couldn't possibly uphold.

Crocea Moors rested against his leg as he watched the shattered moon. His father had broken his sword arm years ago, before he'd been born. His blade had then been passed to him from his father before him and so on. The blade was his reminder, his companion, and also his burden.

A rustle echoed from behind him. Jaune looked back and saw as Nora groaned in her sleep, mumbling something about sloths before rolling over until she faced Ren.

Nora Valkeryie. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. And Jaune arc.

Did they doubt his leadership? His capabilities? Of course they did. How could they not? He was untrained and untested. The weight of Crocea Moors every time he drew the blade reminded him of that.

"Jaune."

He turned around to meet Ren's serious gaze, the teen was as silent as a shadow, somehow that didn't surprise him.

"Hey Ren. Nice night tonight huh?" He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

It really was. The moon was a stunning back drop to the soaring towers of beacon and the academy looked like something right out of a fairytale. A cool breeze completed the scene, sending the various trees around the academy rustling and swaying in the wind.

Ren shrugged noncommittally and leaned over the edge of the balcony.

"Are you nervous?" Ren asked finally after a moment of silence.

"Me? Nervous? Ha. Ren I'm fine. "Jaune laughed the slightest tremor in his voice.

Ren fixed him with a flat stare.

A couple moments passed.

"Alright I'm nervous." Jaune confessed. He had never been good at keeping secrets.

"Why?" Ren asked finally.

"Are you joking? I'm leading a team, I'm responsible for you, Nora, and Pyrrha. I can't even protect myself none the less all of you!" Jaune exploded.

"Keep quiet." Ren chided, "You'll wake up Nora."

As if on cue, the orange haired girl turned over in her sleep, grumbling and mumbling about sloths. A tired sounding ~Kraaaa~ echoed from her lips before she turned over again.

"Sorry." Jaune mumbled, looking over at Nora. "But what was Ozpin thinking? Making me leader?"

"If it helps. I'm not nervous." Ren said.

"What?"

Gentle sky blue eyes met piercing pink . Ren sighed as he regarded the moon one last time before he turned back toward the dormitory.

"With you as team leader." Ren said.

"Why?" Jaune asked but it was too late. Ren had already vanished back into the dormitory.

Jaune sighed. Even with his limited experience with Ren he knew that he was a man of few words. Those few precious scraps of information were all he was going to get for the night. But those few words were enough. Jaune made his way back to the dorm, Crocea Moors in hand. The weight of the blade gently tugged his hand downwards.

What Ruby had said was true, theoretically the weight of the blade was the same, regardless of whatever form it took. Somehow, as he looked over at his team, gently dozing in their beds, the blade seemed all the heavier in his hands.

* * *

Ruby yawned and opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep from her heavy eyelids. With a grumble the brown haired turned over in her bed, for the moment perfectly content to laze around in bed until she felt like getting out of bed. That was until she remembered where she was.

She was at Beacon… and she was the leader of team RWBY.

Best day ever.

A thrill raced through her veins, every day was going to be an adventure, everyday an amazing downright spectacular day, and for her sister to be her partner for the next four years? It was like a dream come true. Plus they had cookies. Excellent cookies, as she remembered that incredible dish of pastries Professor Ozpin had given her.

Every trainee at Signal had one day wanted to be a student at Beacon, and for good reason. Beacon was one of the most prestigious schools for hunters and huntresses in all of Remnant. Sanctuary and Trinity numbered among the top but Beacon was the birthplace of heroes.

"WAKE UP TEAM RUBY!" Ruby yelled ecstatically.

A low grumble echoed around the room as the members of her team shifted in their beds. Pity, today was a new day, and it was going to be amazing. Filled with adventures and fun, and weapons! Most of all weapons, in fact she hadn't gotten a good look at any of the weapons on her team except for Ember Cecelia and her own beloved Crescent Rose.

"Shut up." Was Weiss' oh so elegant response as the heiress turned in her bed, which wasn't all that surprising, although Ruby wished Weiss could be a little more cheerful. Maybe? Ruby shrugged well regardless, Weiss wasn't going to spoil her day. Nope. Not by a long shot.

Blake simply got out of bed and did a cat like stretch, arching her back before getting ready for the day. Blake was pleasantly silent, which was something Ruby admired in the girl. She had Jet black hair, amber eyes, and a clam demeanor that tempered out the fire in Yang. On another plus, she also loved literature.

But again, oh soooo mysterious, which was exciting as chocolate chip cookies dipped in chocolate milk and a side of truffles.

Her dear sister Yang made her presence known with an enormous yawn and a radiant smile. Still beautiful in the clothes that she wore yesterday. "So, we still need to get our luggage. Don't we?" Yang asked.

"Wait."

Three pairs of eyes turned and stared at the white haired heiress who had decided to climb, albeit rather reluctantly, out of her bed.

"Keycard." Weiss demanded, true to her word, looking flat at Ruby.

Ruby smiled. "Of course." She said, handing over one of the metallic cards over to Weiss. Weiss took the keycard and nodded to herself before looking at Yang. "Professor Goodwitch informed me that we were to collect our baggage up at the great hall. I've also been told that breakfast will be served there." Weiss commented.

"Breakfast? Why didn't you say so earlier!" Ruby cried, looking like a puppy held by a very, very, fragile leash. Yang chuckled and grabbed Ruby by her hood. "Now, now Sis, you can come and give me a hand with the luggage. You two, grab breakfast. By the way, not too much sugar. Ruby lives off that stuff."

Then with a couple of strangled protests from Ruby, the door slammed shut.

It was as silent as a coffin for a moment.

"Shall we?" Weiss asked finally after what seemed like hours.

Blake shrugged and lightly brushed past the heiress. "We wouldn't want our leader to go hungry now would we?"

"Oh, God forbid." Weiss said, a smile threatening her lips as she followed her partner.

* * *

"Best breakfast ever!" Yang cheered, easily downing a mug of searing black coffee, the heat didn't bother her. If anything, it made the drink all more appealing as the liquid tingled down her throat. The burst of caffeine at the end was also a nice after effect. The blond brawler looked around for another refill of the heavenly ambrosia. Pity they hadn't brought the coffee machine with them, Weiss reflected as Yang began eyeing Ruby's cup of hot chocolate.

Ruby on the other hand was guarding her cup jealously along with devouring the veritable cargo of cookies and pastries that Weiss and Blake had brought with them. "Hnk you. Mreiss and Brke!" Ruby cheered, mouth full of pastries and cookie crumbs alike.

Weiss shrugged off the thanks, nursing her own mug of coffee. Beacon certainly did have a fine selection of Coffee, Weiss noted approvingly. Although with that coffee mug that Ozpin toted around with him everywhere it wasn't exactly a surprise. Conveniently enough, they were also provided with four coffee mugs, with beacon's logo emblazoned on the front.

The breakfast bar had been… surprisingly empty. Although she supposed that most other teams didn't have an enthusiastic leader that was cruel enough not to let them sleep in. Blake had simply looped Gambol Shroud through a loop of doughnuts while Weiss had grabbed drinks with the four mugs she had found in a cupboard.

The walk back had been increasingly awkward with that ever present silence that pervaded their partnership. That was until Weiss slipped walking up the stairs. It hadn't really been a big thing, her foot, burdened by the heels that she always wore, caught on the top step, resulting in the assorted beverages in her arms to fly all over her previously stark white clothing.

Furious and soaked, Weiss had caught the barest hints a smile curve around Blake's lips before the black haired girl had handed her a towel. Stinking of coffee and embarrassment, Weiss took the long way back to the dorm. After all, it wouldn't be fitting to have the Schnee heiress covered in coffee and hot chocolate for the world to see now would it? With that thought in mind, Weiss had marched to the dorm, changed out of her clothes, and went back to grab another round of drinks.

When she had returned, Blake had already set out the pastries and was sitting on her bed, book in hand with a Danish pastry in the other. Her position hadn't changed since.

Was this going to be how their partnership was going to play out? Were they going to be two girls on two sides of the political spectrum, and a world of silence between them? Internally, she wondered why she even cared. Blake was skilled, her performance against the nevermore proved that, she was quiet, and undoubtedly intelligent. Wasn't that all she wanted in a partner?

Didn't she?


	3. Lukewarm

**AN: Thank you for all the reviews! Well this chapter is twice the length of all the others so... I hope quality here matches up with quantity haha. Either way, enjoy. **

* * *

**Lukewarm**

Dove Gray

* * *

Ren slumped tiredly against a wall. Nora had awoken him at the crack of dawn and the urge to just let his eyes slump to the ground was almost overpowering. He had promptly gotten dressed and went downstairs to meditate, if only to prevent him from committing homicide on his second day at Beacon.

She was his friend, his best friend. But who didn't want to occasionally murder their friends?

Ren sipped at his tea. The temporary surge of caffeine helped calm him a little. It was a nice Wulong tea. He sipped again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Pyrrha doing her usual morning stretches. She was uncomfortably… rigid in her movements, like she had perfected them under the cold eye of a general. None of the fluidity he was used to.

He didn't fault her for it; he had seen firsthand the effectiveness of her training, nailing a death stalker with lethal accuracy. However her personality was similarly rigid, like a bar of steel. Undoubtedly a warm bar of steel, who was kind and loving, but still awkward, waiting to be forged into something with purpose.

Speaking of which, Pyrrha walked over to him, a jubilant smile on her face. "Good morning Ren." She said lightly, grabbing a glass and a jug of milk from the large breakfast table in the commons. There had been an unusual lack of cookies and hot chocolate when Ren had went down for his breakfast. He blamed Weiss and Blake, he had spotted the duo carrying a veritable cornucopia of breakfast treats up to their dorm room.

But then again, that was none of his business.

"Morning Pyrrha." Ren replied, looking offhandedly out the massive stained glass windows in the commons. It revealed Beacon's expansive open grounds and the small number of students doing warm-ups or morning training in the courtyard. Hmm... He should join them. When he had been younger, all of his martial arts practice had occurred in the mornings, his only moments of solace away from the firecracker that was Nora.

Now with Nora attached hand and foot to him, he already missed those mornings, those moments of pensive silence when it had seemed like it he had been the only person in the world.

"So… Enjoying your time at Beacon?" Pyrrha asked. Right, he had accidently trailed off for a moment, leaving the scarlet haired girl in a state of awkwardness as he mused in silence. He supposed not everybody was like Nora, willing to chatter on and on, while he occasionally listened but more often did not.

"It has been… surprising." Ren acknowledged, pink eyes wandering around the scenery.

"How so? Are you talking about with Jaune as leader?" Pyrrha inquired.

"No… just in general." Ren replied.

If there was one thing he was not worried about, it was Jaune as leader. He was not cocky or demanding, nor was he a fool. He thought back to last night, when he had watched the young man sitting on the balcony outside their room, admiring the moon, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

What more could he have wanted in a leader?

"Are you surprised? With Jaune as leader?" Ren responded softly, watching the crimson haired girl carefully.

Pyrrha looked a bit taken back, eyes automatically flitting away from Ren's prying pink gaze. "No." Pyrrha said automatically, gulping down her glass of ice cold milk before shoving a waffle in her mouth. Ren felt his lips quirk in what was his own approximation of a grin. Did she eat when she was uncomfortable?

"Liar." Ren said simply, following suit and sipped at his tea. "You wanted to become leader didn't you?"

Pyrrha flushed, affronted gaze aside, it was clear the girl had been caught. It also helped that she was a terrible liar and wore her heart on her sleeve, Ren observed wryly. It wasn't surprising, talented people wanted their talent to be acknowledged, he saw this in Cardin Winchester, Weiss Schnee, and of course Pyrrha Nikos, the four time winner of the prestigious Mistral tournament.

"Well… Yes." Pyrrha conceded. What separated her apart from Weiss Schnee and Lark Sky was that she was honest, honest to a fault, which redeemed her in Ren's eyes. It was one thing to want to be acknowledged, it was another to deny that they wanted to.

There was a moment of silence, with the unlikely pair quietly drinking at their respective beverages.

"That's fine."

Pyrrha glanced up in surprise. Only to see the side of Ren's face as he glanced out the window again.

Ren sipped at his tea. He needed a refill soon.

"REN!" And there was his fire.

He found himself pinned to the ground by a girl with orange hair and gleaming turquoise eyes. Those two aquamarine gems pinned him in place, like they always had, ever since he had been just a boy playing at being warrior, and ever since she had been a girl longing for a friend. "Boop." He felt two fingers jab him neatly in his forehead.

"Are you alright Ren?" Pyrrha asked worriedly. He could only imagine how he looked to her, Nora with her body splayed on top on him, hugging him like there was no tomorrow. Ren grimaced and somehow struggled to his feet, Nora still clutching him like a sloth to its branch. She was always overly affectionate like that. Ren started moving towards the large variety of breakfast foods sitting out on the massive table. Nora liked her sugar.

"This is how our mornings always start." Ren grumbled.

Ren spotted the signature blonde hair of their team leader as he wandered down the stairs, eyes weary with sleep and fatigue. He inwardly winced as he watched Jaune slam headfirst into one of the various pillars dotting Beacon's hallways.

And he'd have it no other way.

* * *

Classes. Did Yang ever mention how much she hated classes?

Plus it was absolutely ludicrous how Beacon had determined the classes they would be in their first year at Beacon. A standardized test? For a school where the point was to train you for fighting? What a joke. Yang felt her lip inwardly curl as she scanned her results. Needless to say, she hadn't done well. She had become a huntress for the adrenaline boost, the feeling of hammering her fist into something soft and fleshy. Well that and to help people.

The innocuous slip of paper mocked her as she scanned her schedule.

At the very least there had been some evaluation to her performance in the initiation ceremony, Yang observed as she saw _Advanced_ _Hand to Hand Combat _sitting in her schedule but aside from that, there wasn't really anything she was looking forward to.

Aura studies? Please, her semblance was all she needed regarding her aura, and what was there to learn? She just willed the fire into being and it would crackle around her, a cloak of flame whenever she wanted it. Yang anxiously scanned the rest of her classes.

Pre-Calculus? Could someone please explain why they needed to learn Calculus to kill monsters?

Grimm Studies. Well she supposed that could be useful, assuming that they learned things like where to punch the damned things. As long as it wasn't some long winded history class that should be at least tolerable.

Combat Strategies and tactics. Well that could be useful, but in her experience, tactics were nothing more than chess pieces on a board. There was nothing exciting about discussing where damned chess pieces would be best positioned. Besides, everything went to hell anyway the moment someone, usually her, charged right in and killed everything.

General History. Boooooooring.

The rest of her schedule was open with options for either elective classes or just free periods. Although, Yang noted wryly, Proffesor Goodwitch strongly advised students to choose classes instead of just lazing around all day. Of course she would, the damned woman was a slave driver.

Yang peeked at the rest of her teammates. They had received their schedules at their doorstep the moment they had finished breakfast. The envelopes had been nice, neatly emblazoned with the logo of beacon and a very officious looking document along with it that allowed them to apply for other classes. Yang chuckled and promptly filled out the majority of her time for off periods. Screw all that class stuff.

Although, she had signed up for sparring practice with the other trainees, there was nothing like a good fight to get her blood pumping. Especially, Yang noted, with all the strong competition here. Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, there must have been a reason why Weiss had been admitted to Beacon.

"What classes did you get Weiss?" Ruby asked cheerfully, derailing Yang's train of thought with a rose colored shove.

The heiress was scanning the paper with a critical eye. "Not bad." The heiress muttered. "Master's Swordplay, Advanced Casting, and all the other generic classes." The heiress said, quickly jotting down a couple classes on the application document before setting it down on the table.

"Fun!" Ruby cheered.

"Casting?" Blake wondered out loud. It was certainly an interesting class to assign to a girl who wielded the rapier with an ease that bordered on mastery.

Weiss grimaced and waved her hand, a wide array of glyphs sparked into existence, circling around their caster like ominous multi colored halos before she dispelled them with another wave. "I'm decent at the art." Weiss said, her fingers tapping Myrenastarr anxiously. "But that's beside the point." Weiss continued, "What classes do you all have? We might as well coordinate our schedules accordingly."

After a couple moments of quick comparison, they had compiled a general "Game Plan" for the day. Unsurprisingly, Blake and Weiss were both in master's swordplay, unfortunately for both of them, the class took place at a ungodly hour in the morning. All four of them had Grimm studies together along with General History, and Combat Strategies and tactics. Aura studies were also a team class, which Yang assumed was to learn about the semblances and nuances of their team members' unique auras.

Yang was then shuttled off to advanced hand to hand combat while Ruby had an open period. Yang could count the number of people on one hand that actually taught Scythe combat, so it wasn't a surprise that Beacon didn't offer that particular class. Although her sister hardly needed the training.

Then their day closed off with sparring for Yang, Casting for Weiss, and an off period for both Blake and Ruby. All things considered it wasn't bad, until the whole mess of elective classes were thrown into the mix. It became increasingly clear that any sort of coordination between classes was going to basically impossible.

This certainly was not calming down Weiss' nerves, especially since classes were set to begin in about half an hour. It took another fifteen minutes before the heiress stopped pacing and just gave up and slumped down to her bunk.

Gazing around the room, Yang couldn't say she was exactly satisfied. Everything was a mess, it was far too crowded and she couldn't walk two feet without bumping into something. But since when had see cared about organization? Besides, the room exuded that homey feeling, well sans the imposing painting of the forest of Forever Fall in the corner. Leave it to Weiss to bring a somber note into everything.

The gentle chime of Beacon's massive bell towers rang through the air.

Yang sighed as her and the rest of her teammates stood up.

"Well guys, it's been a great first morning as team RWBY!" Ruby cheered, injecting her usual optimism and childishness into her voice. "Now to classes." She grumbled, looking physically diminished as her exuberance leaked out of her body.

Weiss and Blake opted not to comment, walking out the door without a care in the world.

Yang and Ruby trailed after the two. Yang groaned. She hated classes.

She had mentioned that by now right?

* * *

The gleaming sword darted at her, like an eager viper, tongue lashing outwards and to the right before Blake smoothly dropped low to the ground feel the air currents move past her sensitive ears as she righted herself and swung with the Katana of Gambol Shroud. Weiss parried with an effortless flick of Myrenasterr and they were back where they started, gaze locked, slightly more breathless than before, but still, unyielding.

A flurry of stabs were launched her way, each one closer than the last before Blake neatly back flipped away panting. How long had they been at this? Half an hour? A hour? They had met at the courtyard out back for their first Master's swordplay class, the professor was an old grizzled man that looked like at some point a Beowolf had taken a chunk out of his leg. His expression was taciturn and at his side hung a battered sword, looking equally as battered as its owner.

The professor, Professor William, had started the class with one simple speech.

"You are all here today because you exhibited a talent with the blade. But a master of the blade is more than talented, he speaks with the blade and the blade speaks through him. Therefore, while other classes may play silly how-to- get-to-know-you games, your first task will be to familiarize yourself with your class mates, the way that all swordsmen do." He stated.

"With your sword. Begin."

The old man knelt in the grass to watch as the field exploded into a torrent of battle.

That was how they had ended up in their current position. Blake had simply locked eyes with a random student and before any words were exchanged, their blades were out and dancing. It had been a painfully short conversation, he was overzealous in his attack and Blake had him on the ground in moments with a painful cut across his chest. Then she had found someone else while he left to nurse his wounds, and the pattern repeated until she was faced with the last person on the field, which _of course _happened to be her partner Weiss.

The heiress was good. Stuck up and prickly she may be, but the rapier in her hands spoke of years of experience.

They had been dancing for a while now. The rest of the class had long stopped their side chatter and were now watching with the eager eyes of fellow swordsmen as they countered and riposted, blades clashing with ever increasing frequency.

Weiss lunged forward, a liner blow that seemed far too easy to counter, before Blake realized that the heiress could easily translate a stab into a slash with an easy flick of her wrist. Myrenasterr carved a steel arc in the air as Blake leapt backwards, not entirely unscathed, the very tip of Myrenasterr catching her shoulder.

Blake frowned and sheathed her blade, drawing a few murmurs from those of the crowd who were unused to eastern swordplay. Iajutsu, or sword drawing had been Adam's most lethal tactic. The drawing of the blade added extra momentum and speed to the attack, and when Adam had streamed his aura through the blade, the blade could cut through almost anything.

She was nowhere near as skilled, but it was still her fastest attack, unlike her partner she didn't have Wilt to augment her strikes. With one hand on the hilt of Gambol Shroud, the other holding the cleaver like sheath, Blake crouched before rushing forward, the black katana screaming out of its scabbard.

3 years ago the heiress would have died in a heartbeat, an eye for an eye, she would have said. Justice for the Faunus. Now she was tired, weary of the bloodshed the violence, the questions that plagued her mind even now. After fighting for what she had believed in for so long, had she lost sight of the path?

If Weiss had been any slower, the blade would have carved a ruby gap through her chest, instead the heiress had lunged forward, desperately trying to block enough of the draw to escape unharmed. Gambol Shroud sliced into her sword hand and Weiss withdrew, ignoring the blood dripping down her hand as she locked eyes again with Blake, one of her legs trembling as it strained to hold her weight.

Professor William had said that swordplay was like a conversation, Adam would have laughed at that, Blake thought wryly. To him Swordplay was a means to an end, the ability to carve a spot in the world with nothing but a blade and your own skill. Blake had found something akin to beauty in the art, a painting done with steel and blood.

And she had never seen as fine a canvas as Weiss. It was refreshing to encounter someone who was equally as skilled with the blade as she was despite their differing styles. She would even go as far to say that she was enjoying herself, she thought as she parried another lightning like lunge at her throat. So long as she forgot it was the Schnee heiress she was fighting.

The heiress had started the spar with an impassive expression like she was completing a dreadfully boring homework assignment. Now, her face was sweaty and red, even as she darted forward again, leaping in the air and spinning so that Myrenasterr created a steel cage around her. Blake responded by hurling Gambol Shroud, the blade transitioning into its Chain Scythe form before it was sent flying back.

They squared off again, blades in their respective stances, legs shaky, but unwilling to concede defeat. They exchanged two more flurries of strokes, blades ringing like bells before Weiss lunged forward. She was tired Blake observed, the stance was less fluid than it was earlier, her back leg dragging on the grass as she struck.

Blake nimbly side stepped Myrenasterr's blade and swept her leg across the ground, toppling the heiress as her legs swept Weiss' from under hers. Then she brought Gambol Shroud to Weiss throat, feeling the surge of satisfaction at the movement. Then something sharp prodded her midsection.

Blake glanced down to see Myrenasterr's blade inches from her ribcage. _How? _Blake thought, she had sidestepped the heiress' lunge and there was no way Weiss had reacted fast enough to bring the blade around.

Blake sighed and offered Weiss her hand. "Good match." She said simply, hearing the rest of the students burst into rancorous applause at the outcome of the match, several cheers and whistles sounding through the air.

Weiss, too tired to be sassy, wearily accepted the hand, tottering slightly on her feet like a new born deer as she stood upright. The moment of weakness passed and Weiss stood on her feet, strong as always, nodding politely at the applause like she was at a music performance.

Professor William smiled at the two girls, enthusiasm making him seem decades younger. "Excellent Match. Bravo Ladies." He congratulated. "A fascinating display of eastern and western style sword play."

She was feeling slightly dizzy. Weiss must have cut her more than she thought, Blake observed feeling something wet and sticky slide down her back. Her heart beat was suddenly oddly audible. It was slower than she thought it should have been.

He raised his voice. "Let's have another round of applause for our two stunning swordswomen!"

The crowd roared.

Blake felt her lips twitch into a smile, as she closed her eyes, allowing the cheers of the other students to resound in her ears. A feeling of elation crept over her, was this how it felt to be accepted? To be cheered on by those who admired and supported her?

It was a good feeling.

With that thought Blake slumped to the ground, feeling two gentle arms catch her even as darkness shrouded her vision.

* * *

Ruby yawned as she sat tiredly in her dorm room. Weiss and Blake had already gone off to master's swordplay class, which was thankfully a couple hours before most of the other classes even started. Why swordplay needed to be taught in the morning at all, Ruby had no idea.

She supposed it could be because if someone got stabbed in the morning then they would at least have time to try to get treatment before the rest of the day started. But aside from that… Ruby hastily whipped out Crescent Rose and got to work dismantling the most perfect weapon in all of existence.

She had forgotten to oil the scythe last night, a sin that she'd likely never forgive herself for, due to her exhaustion at the imitation and the subsequent flood of excitement that came from being assigned captaincy of her team. Now she would remedy that, the young red haired teenager quickly dismantled the weapon with ease.

Soon, there was a just a massive assortment of loose parts and red streaked metal, parts that suggested more innocent purposes if one forgot the massive cutting blade laid off to one side and the sniper scope and barrel. Ruby hummed in content, Yang had already disappeared to the Gym to burn of some steam before class started and it was just her and her baby.

Ruby sighed in content as she pieced the massive sniper scythe together after polishing ever piece. The way the pieces blended into a cohesive whole, hundreds of otherwise useless parts melding and connecting into one of the most deadly weapons on all of remnant was intoxicating.

It was just like a team, working together to achieve a common goal.

Ruby froze at that thought, wrench in hand as she looked at her scythe pensively. Her team seemed a far cry from the uniform cohesion that was Crescent Rose. Blake and Weiss were islands, each on opposite sides of seemingly everything, from the color of their sheets to political opinions. The little interaction she had had with them told her they both enjoyed their isolation. They were screws with incompatible heads and she didn't have to tools to coax them into their slots.

Yang posed an entirely different problem, she worked well with Ruby, they were siblings after all, but she was a loose cannon. There was no way to control her, and Ruby loved Yang for it, that same personality making her such a joy to be around but it also made her a pain to work with. In essence, they were royally screwed with her as the architect of their impending demise. She had seen how well Weiss took orders from her, and the cool indifference from Blake certainly didn't encourage her.

Ruby sighed and screwed in the last bolt on Crescent Rose with more force than necessary. With a click, the massive scythe unraveled, mechanical whirs echoing as Crescent Rose stood at attention. Ruby smiled, her weapon was beautiful as always.

At the very least her weapon never gave her any troubles, Ruby thought happily, twirling the scythe in her hands.

"You fool, you blithering fool…" The grumbled voice caught Ruby's ears as she was polishing Crescent Rose. A muffled thud echoed for a moment, the acoustics of Beacon's hallways magnifying the sound. A groan soon followed the thud. Was that… Blake? Ruby thought rather shocked at the prospect. Did Weiss knockout Blake and was currently in the process of dragging her somewhere else as a hostage? All the malevolent mutterings of Yang about the Schnee Heiress flew to the forefront of Ruby's mind.

Of course, Ruby's immediate plan of action was to save the princess, ie. Blake from the clutches of the evil Schnee Heiress. Conveniently, she had just the tool for the job and Crescent Rose unfurled from its compact state like an angry god of war, ready to wreak havoc upon the world. Ruby was just about to confront the evil witch when she heard an annoyed huff.

"… You're such a pain. You know that?" Weiss said aloud to the currently incapacitated Blake. Ruby peeked through the crack of the door, Crescent Rose in one hand, to observe Weiss leaning tiredly against Beacon's marble walls that lined its hallways. "You're an idiot. Who the hell passes out while sparring for goodness sake?" Weiss said scathingly.

Ruby slowly relaxed her grip on Crescent Rose. Blake passed out while sparring? That explained why she was here now, in Weiss' care. Ruby inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; maybe her team wasn't collapsing as quickly at the seams as she had thought.

"Of course I had to be partnered with you." Weiss snarled.

Never mind.

"You and that idiot of a team leader!"

Definitely falling apart at the seams.

Ruby tentatively risked another peek around the corner.

Weiss had Blake over her shoulder again and she seemed resigned to the long grind. Time to take a shot in the dark.

"Heya Weiss!" Ruby cried, stepping out from behind the corner. She was very promptly pinned by a frozen stare. She could see the snippy retort forming on her lips, ohh… pink frosted cookies with sprinkles. This was not going to be good.

"Umm…Sodoyouneedhelp?" The words came out with the finesse of a sledgehammer.

That frozen gaze sharpened. "No."

Ruby slumped, like she had lost her vitality with that rejection. "Weiss…" She whined.

Weiss dragged Blake up another step on the stairs with new energy. "She's my partner, _Captain_." She snapped, putting extra emphasis on the title. "So mind your own business." Normally she wasn't this blunt, but she was tired and she had a pile of unconscious Blake on her hands. Not to mention it was also _Ruby _she was talking to.

Ruby watched Weiss carefully. Young she was, but she was admitted two years earlier to Beacon for a reason. Body cues were one of the first things taught to any huntress trainee, body language of Grimm was often the first clue that they were going to attack. With Weiss, trained in manners as she was she was much harder to read, but Ruby caught the slightest slump of the shoulders, the slightest curve to her usual perfect posture.

Ruby smiled. She couldn't help it.

"Alright, see ya later Weiss." Ruby said, walking away humming a random tune in her mind. Mindful of the suspicious gaze on her back, Ruby didn't relax until she rounded the corner. She sighed to herself. "Oh Weiss." Ruby murmured, shaking her head tiredly.

* * *

Blake sighed and stretched out her limbs, her ears straining in their confines as she arched her back. Whatever she was lying in, it was like heaven, akin to sleeping on a cloud. Blake pushed into the material, it was certainly more comfortable than whatever their beds where made out of.

"It's silk." A voice commented, cool and edged. "At least Beacon has some standards." The voice snipped. Wonderful. Blake only knew one person who had that particular tone.

Blake blinked in surprise as something heavy clunked down on the table in front of her. Lifting her eyes from the white mattress, Blake looked at the mug of warm milk sitting on the table in front of her before looking at the heiress in front of her, icy blue eyes holding hers with something like a question twinkling in them.

What the question actually was, she would have paid to know.

The gesture, while not unwelcome, was certainly unexpected.

"Thanks" Blake murmured.

"You're welcome." Weiss replied.

They sat like that for a couple moments in silence.

It wasn't really anything new. Their interactions ever since they had partnered had been of silence. Internally Blake chided herself, what did she expect anyway? Hearty conversation had heartwarming team bonding? This was the Schnee heiress they were talking about.

"You blacked out on the field." Weiss commented.

Blake shrugged, "I figured as much."

Another moment of silence passed.

"You know. I really hope this isn't how the rest of our partnership is going to turn out." Weiss said airily.

Blake stared at the heiress, Weiss refused to meet her gaze, one hand twirled in her hair, as she stared fixedly at the wall. Didn't Weiss hate her? Hate how she slandered her company and all that she stood for?

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is…." Weiss said finally. ""You can have your opinions and I can have mine, but at the end of the day we're still partners right?"

If it was possible to just wipe away 10 years of forced labor and abuse by human hands then Blake would have done it in a heartbeat. Although the heiress was taking a rather large leap of faith here, Blake noted, thinking how easy it would be just to say no, just to watch that Schnee face stiffen up in indignation and hurt.

How good it would feel, some vengeful angry part of her reminded Blake. How long the Faunus had waited to strike back at their oppressors and just watch them _suffer. _

"Partners." Blake acknowledged finally, her voice sounded rough and unused to her ears. "I've never had a partner."

False. Adam had been her partner for years far before Weiss, but they had been friends, and their partnership had been strengthened because of it. But If Weiss could cast away years of what she had indirectly done, all the death she had sown, all the life that she had reaped. Then surely she could do the same. Hopefully.

"But I'm willing to try." Blake finished, carefully watching Weiss. Specifically her eyes, the eyes always gave away more about a person than they thought.

It was an interesting sight, watching eyes turn a little softer, less haughty then the standard façade she presented. The expression was unusual on the heiresses face, and even marred by the scar that sliced across one eye, it held a certain tenderness. Weiss closed her eyes for a moment.

"But don't think this makes us friends!" Weiss sputtered, sitting down to Blake with a huff, arms folded, but still looking inordinately pleased.

Blake felt a chuckle rising in her chest before she bit her lip, holding it in. Teammates with the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company? Adam would have laughed at the irony, before asking when she would bury Gambol Shroud in her back. But she had left the White Fang to avoid such bloodshed.

"I wouldn't expect anything else." Blake said simply, content to watch the rest of the morning slip away.

* * *

Weiss diligently wrote down word for word what Professor Oobleck had just said. Judging by the emphasis and inflection in the man's voice, she assumed whatever it was that he said had been important. Weiss looked down at her page.

The sheet of notebook paper was filled to the brim with lines upon lines of text. Emphasis really only worked when it was used sparingly. When every other sentence was filled to the brim with superlatives and glossy vocabulary, it lost its effect pretty quick.

Weiss glanced over at the rest of her team. Of the three of them, only Blake was making an effort to take notes. Ruby was drawing up what appeared to be a scope design for a sniper rifle? As if Crescent Rose needed any more augmentations. Yang was blearily gazing at the clock, lilac eyes not even bothering to look at the Professor. Weiss sighed at the very least she could swap notes with Blake. When the other two were failing in class, she'd get her vengeance then. Then she remembered they were graded on a team basis, some bogus system to encourage teamwork. Weiss groaned inwardly, before stealing another glance at Blake, the faunus keeping remarkable composure as she tried not to pass out from boredom.

Speaking of Blake, Weiss flashed back to this morning. The feeling of sweat on her brow, blood rushing through her veins, and the pure rush of battle on her tongue. Weiss was unsocial by nature, isolated since her birth, so when Blake Belladonna had been assigned as her partner she wasn't quite sure what to do. She had decided on her usual impassive icy facade that she showed to the rest of the world.

Being an heiress, the expression was like second nature. It also helped that Blake seemed to have some vendetta against her family. The Schnee name had to be defended after all, and Weiss kept up her act, making through their first day with rigid steel.

Until their morning spar at least.

Weiss was glad for two things, that they had a more than competent sword play instructor, and that Blake Belladonna was a kindred spirit. Gambol Shroud echoed of desperation, of bloodshed, and wild escapism. Escapism like Weiss', Myrenastarr had been her escape from the painful reality of the Schnee manor. She had spent many a long night practicing her swordplay until her fingers bled, ignoring the burning pain in her right eye, or the ever present question of where her mother was and why everyday there were words of killings tied with the name Schnee.

Weiss was shaken out of her thoughts when Professor Oobleck raised his voice again, like a piece of music reaching a crescendo, albeit a really boring piece of music but music nonetheless. Weiss sighed and jotted down whatever he had just said; something about Feudalism in Remnant.

"And now…"

He was cut off in the middle of his tirade when Beacon's massive bell tower chimed. The rustle of seats and students scrambling out of the classroom overtook the rest of whatever he was going to say. Weiss sighed and picked up her notebook, only two more classes to go. Then she could start on homework. Years of tutoring had taught to complete all the assignments when the information was still fresh.

With that thought in mind, Weiss made her way to the door, refusing to be late to Combat Strategies and Tactics. Her foot was out the door before she hesitated. Some part of her conscience nagged at her, like an irritating itch that wouldn't go away. She turned around and watched Ruby, Yang, and Blake meander their way through the classroom with the lightness and ease of youth. Something in her heart throbbed, something that felt like equal parts yearning and obligation.

"You coming, Weiss?" Blake asked lightly, meeting Weiss' gaze with a curious tilt of her head, the voice shaking her out of her thoughts. The action was surprisingly adorable, like what curious kittens did when they didn't understand something. Goddamnit, why was she doing this?

Weiss glared at Blake, for all appearances reluctantly walking over to the trio averting her gaze to glare at Ruby. "Where to next, O'Team Leader?" Weiss commented, restraining the sarcasm with her usual frosty disposition.

Ruby smiled at her.

Weiss frowned. "What in the world are you smiling at?" She snarled, her usual wall of prickly indifference in place.

"Nothing." Ruby said simply, that damned smile still in place.

Weiss turned away, only to meet Yang and Blake's amused gaze directed at her. Heiress didn't swear, but at the moment she really wanted to. Was she surrounded by idiots that constantly wanted to screw with her?

Cheeks beginning to flush, Weiss immediately turned away and stalked to her next class. "Hurry up you dolts! I'm not waiting any longer!" She said over her shoulder. As the group grumbled, but nonetheless caught up to her with their usual enthusiasm Weiss extended a hand, not quite sure how appropriate it would be, but nonetheless, gripped Blake's shoulder.

"Thanks." Weiss said simply.

Blake's eyes flashed at her, a flare of amber against an otherwise black ensemble, amusement dancing in them like shooting stars. "Are you thanking me?" Blake said amused.

Weiss froze as she saw Ruby and Yang immediately turn their heads around, eyes flaring like blood hounds on a scent. "Wait- wha-"

"No! You're all idiots!" Weiss snarled, immediately upping her pace, ignoring that fact that the trio still caught up to her regardless. How long until she had drilled into their heads that she didn't care about them, just their overall grade and their team performance?

Weiss sighed cursing her absolute dolts of teammates, but no matter how hard she tried, she felt… lighter. Like suddenly, she wasn't and the words brought a twinge of sadness and happiness in equal portions through her heart.

_I'm not the loneliest of them all. _


	4. Reluctance

Silver

**Reluctance**

* * *

_One. Two. Three. Four._

A slight pause.

_One. Two. Three. Four._

The rapier slammed into the battered wooden surface with increasing speed.

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Te-_

Her hand jerked off to the side and scraped a wide furrow across the simple wooden board in the gymnasium. Weiss wiped her brow, sending beads of sweat splattering across the lightly varnished wooden floor. There were a couple moments of narrow focus with Weiss glaring at the wooden board like it was her personal enemy, the embodiment of defiance, before the white themed girl felt exhaustion hit her like a truck.

Myrenasterr clattered noisily onto the ground.

Finger scrabbling at the grip, Weiss lifted the elegantly carved piece of metal. At the end, that was all it was, wasn't it? Just a fancy piece of metal. A piece of metal meant to serve the Schnee Family. The worn grip, ragged with thousands of sparring matches, of endless thrusts and cuts, slipped into her hand like an old friend.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Crack.

Weiss stared blankly at the vertical split down the middle of the wooden board, a deep hole marking the point where her rapier had pummeled it an indefinite amount of times. Weiss sighed and stared at the clock hanging on the wall. 5 in the morning. She had been at this for an hour now.

Weiss gripped the guard of the blade, and lifted the rapier back into its ready position. She had been at Beacon for a month now. Regardless of whoever her teammates were, whoever her teachers were, she _would _succeed. She didn't have the innate talent of Ruby or Yang, nor the ruthless efficiency that came to Blake's swordplay like second nature. But what she did have was a shitload of time, and the tendency to sleep only 5 hours a night.

But she still wasn't good enough.

Her eyes drifted to the Schnee Logo that stood proudly on an unused case of dust. The case was discarded in a corner, likely forgotten by some careless student.

She was _never _good enough. That drove her beyond the exhaustion and the burning in her muscles.

She raised the rapier again.

"You're going to drive yourself insane doing that for this long." A voice said offhandedly.

Weiss' head snapped around, white pony tail spinning in an arc as she pinned her frozen gaze on the intruder. Pyrrha raised her hands sheepishly. "Just an observation." Pyrrha said simply. "Although it is admirable you're practicing this early in the morning every day."

Weiss shrugged, Rapier slowly pointing downwards. "Couldn't sleep." She said simply. Before, she had almost worshipped Pyrrha, fantasized about the two of them on a team. The perfect combination. Now she almost felt sorry for the girl, potential caged by that blithering moron Jaune Arc.

Pyrrha shrugged and Milo and Akouo made their presence known with the gleaming metal weapons in her hands. "Neither could I." Pyrrha commented airily, slowly making her way towards one of the high tech practice dummies Beacon provided for its students. She cut an impressive figure, hammered bronze armor and weapons at her side, the picture of an impassive warrior, flawless in her training.

Pyrrha lowered her center of gravity, round shield easily dropping downwards in front of her, and Milo whirred into spear form, tip bristling outward like the horn of a rhino. In an explosion of movement, Pyrrha slammed the tip into its chest. The dummy more or less crumpled into something that resembled a tin can. With a grunt, Pyrrha wrenched her weapon out of the dummy and spun the spear idly in her hands.

"Although this doesn't help much either." Pyrrha commented dryly. "Dummy's aren't tough enough to let loose."

Weiss sighed as she looked at Pyrrha, "As expected of the four time champion of the Mystral Annual Tournament." She said lightly, an edge underlying her tone. It felt like bitterness.

Pyrrha smiled at that, "Did I ever tell you about my first tournament?" She asked offhandedly. When Weiss shook her head in response, Pyrrha fondly smiled. "I was in my first year in Sanctum, and I was badgered into the tournament by my friends. The first match I couldn't even land a hit on my opponent. I was out on the floor in about 30 seconds."

Weiss blinked. She didn't expect that.

Pyrrha laughed, half nostalgia half embarrassment, "We all got a good laugh out of it." She said simply. "And then, when I was accepted to Beacon and they weren't, none of those trophies seemed to be worth it in the end."

Milo impaled itself into another dummy, before Pyrrha placed her foot on its metallic chassis and wrenched her weapon out of its chest with needless viciousness.

Pyrrha sighed, lost in memories long gone. Watching, her form seemed almost diminished. All of her vitality left her, leaving an exhausted student like everyone else.

"I wish you luck in all your endeavors." Pyrrha said.

Her steps echoed throughout the room.

Weiss stared.

Myrenasterr's tip slammed into the wooden board again.

_One. Two. Three. Four._

_All those trophies weren't worth it in the end… huh?_

* * *

Ruby yawned as she tiredly sipped at her hot chocolate, class was starting soon. Well more accurately, Oobleck's class was starting soon, which was more or less an hour and a half session of catching naptime while pretending to pay attention, which was actually a harder than it seemed.

This early in the semester only two people had mastered the art, her sister, Yang, and Ren. Ren seemed to exude an unending aura of "I don't give a shit". That pretty much made the skill more or less second nature to the oriental teen. Yang on the other hand managed to sleep with one eye open at all times, making it seem like she was awake.

Ruby never asked how Yang had gotten into the habit, whenever she wanted to bring it up; she always remembered that her sister, energetic and cheerful as she was, frequented the more dangerous side of Vale more often than not.

For the rest of them, they were stuck either falling asleep or taking notes and doodling to pass the time.

Ruby put down her mug of hot chocolate and made her way to class. Yang had probably saved her a seat.

When she entered the classroom, her first thought was. _Damn, you look like shit. _It was a sentiment clearly shared by everyone else. Weiss, usually impeccable with her flawless skin and make up, looked like someone had been using her as a punching bag in the middle of the night. Dark violet crescents hung under her eyes, starkly contrasting with her sickly pale skin.

Her classmates were giving Weiss a wide berth because even this early in the semester they had learned that a tired Weiss was a murderous Weiss. The heiress was currently fixing her icy blue eyes on the notebook in front of her, looking like she was attempting to stay awake from sheer force of will.

Ruby cautiously sat down next to Yang. "So why does Weiss look like… you know… that?" She whispered to Yang as soon as she saw Weiss' gaze drift off into space.

The heiress normally got less sleep than all of them but the fact that she had more or less skipped breakfast along with the fact that her makeup looked rather sloppy was worrying. Although rather was a relative statement, she still looked impeccable to anyone who didn't wait outside the bathroom for an hour while Weiss got ready.

"I don't know," Yang muttered back, having a silent staring conversation with the last member of their team. Blake was stuck looking amused or impassive as she swapped glances with Yang. "But she hasn't said anything yet and frankly, I'd like to keep it that way."

A couple raised eyebrows and stares later, Yang replied. "Well Blake doesn't know anything."

Ruby looked at her sister, marginally impressed, "How did you know that?"

Yang smirked, "She gave me the flat stare." Yang replied, modeling the expression, blankly staring forward, eyebrows slightly narrowed. It was a startlingly good impression. Blake glared at Yang.

Yang laughed and airily waved off the matter, slouching back into her chair. "Besides, class is going to start soon."

On cue, Professor Oobleck zoomed into the room, dropping his distinctive coffee cup with a clunk on the desk in the middle of the room, and immediately proceeding to rattle off at break neck speed the chain of events of the Great War.

One of Yang's eyes lazily blinked, like it was lethargically debating whether to open again, before it finally surrendered to the inevitable and slammed shut. Her right eye was still open though, leading to a semi-attentive appearance. A couple rows back, Ren had simply slouched back in his chair and stared off into space. It was rather frightening how similar it was to his usual appearance.

For the rest of the class, it wasn't as easy. Some, like Pyrrha, Blake, and Velvet attempted to take notes before they idly began doodling to kill the time. Others just outright slumped onto their notebooks and closed their eyes. Blake caught herself idly doodling a melting snowflake.

Ruby instead shot quick glances at everyone else before falling suit and covering her face with her hood and wrapping her cloak around her like a blanket. Beacon was definitely amazing, but none of the brochures of accounts of other students ever mention such toxic boredom. She idly wrote down a couple words on General Amartius, being the last words that she'd actually managed to catch from Oobleck's breakneck delivery before she let her pencil slip out of her hand.

A soft thunk echoed through the room as her forehead met the wood of the desk in front of her. The childish logic of "if everyone else is doing it, it must be okay for me to do it too" went through her head. The mind numbing drone of Oobleck felt like a mild anesthesia. Her eyes began to slump, maybe counting cookies would make the time go by fas-

"Miss Rose, would you mind informing the class about the importance of General Amartius?" Professor Oobleck said, speaking in his usual thick accent. His reflecting glasses made it impossible to see behind them, but Ruby was sure that utter sadism sparkled in those eyes.

"Umm…" Was all she managed to get out, shooting quick glances at the rest of her team while she jerked awake. Blake was still doodling, eyes glinting with barely withheld mischief, Yang was still asleep, evident by the way she wasn't reacting to a spider slowly creeping up the side of her neck. Well she was officially scre-.

"General Amartius was the first General to effectively implement Dust on a large scale to fight the Grimm. Many acknowledge him as the creator of the now common Dust Crystals." Weiss said, regurgitating a blurb of information from some textbook.

_God praise the queen. _Ruby thought, almost feeling the casing of the bullet she had just dodged.

Professor Oobleck blinked, "Correct. Well done Miss Schnee. Although, Miss Rose it would be more beneficial to your learning, and to your grade if you were to pay more attention in class" He chastised.

Ruby nodded diligently.

He resumed talking.

The fact that Weiss didn't shoot any of them a smug glance was a testament to how goddamn out of it she was. Weiss simply slumped back into her seat as the torrent of words continued, slouching, as her left hand robotically took notes. Weiss didn't slouch. Weiss also didn't do humble. Ice blue eyes stared dully as she scribbled.

Ruby would have nudged the heiress and asked if she was okay, if she didn't already know that would raise an inferno that she couldn't possibly hope to quell. So, like her sister Yang, Ruby turned to Blake. The ever enigmatic black themed girl was occasionally jotting down notes but when she felt Ruby's gaze on her she glanced up.

The raised eyebrow and curious tilt of her head more or less conveyed her meaning.

Ruby glanced at her then glanced at Weiss meaningfully.

Blake frowned, her expression darkening as she looked over the Schnee Heiress. Her body language all but shouted why me? Although the answer to that was also pretty obvious.

Ruby glared, young as she was, she'd pull out the team leader card if she had to. Although, she wasn't sure how well that'd work on Blake. She had the feeling that Blake had been disobeying rules for a while now.

Blake reluctantly acquiesced with a dip of her head, amber eyes glinting with unease and unwilling acknowledgement. Clearly Blake was as eager to approach Hurricane Schnee as the rest of them. Satisfied with how things were going to play out, Ruby slouched down in her chair. It was going to be a long hour and a half.

She gazed blearily at her page of notes, the struggle was pointless.

She observed Weiss scrawl another sentence into her pristine white note book.

Oobleck continued to drone.

Life was predictable like that sometimes.

* * *

When she had been in the White Fang, she had been paired with Adam. In general, the both of them specialized in infiltration and assassination. There was good reason for that. When it came to obstacles, there were two approaches thieves would take. One was finesse, using a set of lockpicks or whatever bag of tricks at their side to coax the door open.

The other was simple brute force. Explosives, aura charged katanas, whatever opened the door didn't matter so long as the door _opened_. It was pretty obvious which one she specialized in and which one she left to her partner.

Regardless, she was stumped on how to breach the vault that was Weiss Schnee. Gentle coaxing was useless, the girl was more experienced than any teenager had the right to be in the art of reading people, courtesy of her political upbringing. Brute force was pointless, she didn't have the personality to draw the Schnee out of her shell, although Yang could have likely pulled it off.

Normally, she would not have cared one whit if the Schnee Heiress starved herself to death, or dropped dead due to exhaustion it technically was an order from her team leader. That and Weiss did look pretty terrible. It must have been a new experience for the Schnee Heiress, being left helpless and broken like a discarded doll. Ordinarily, the heiress undoubtedly would have had droves of maids waiting on her hand and foot. The idea of being in bad health was likely anathema to her. It was rather sad, that or pathetic. She was undecided which one it actually was.

That and Weiss had been sub-par during their Master's Swordplay class this morning. For someone trained to be perfect in every conceivable way, it was an unusual anomaly.

So much so that even their normally gruff professor had asked if Weiss was okay.

The gritted response of "Yes sir" had followed.

Then Weiss had her rapier at her throat within the span of 5 minutes. After that display, the professor had no further comments.

She was jerked out of her thoughts when Weiss abruptly shoved her books into her bag and vanished from the lecture hall, right as the bell rang its ever present tone. Blake, like the good teammate she was followed her. Unwillingly, but still followed the heiress none the less. Normally, they all would have departed in a group, with Yang merrily leading the way, eagerly tailed by Ruby with her and Weiss strolling behind. But the heiress was clearly not alright today.

The Heiress' scent was easy to track, the distinct scent of vanilla and cold morning air that she had been so intrigued by when she had first come to Beacon acted as olfactory signposts. They lead her in a straightforward path to their shared dorm. Not surprising really, considering Ruby and Yang still had other classes to go while both she and Weiss had an off period.

With a gentle push, Blake opened the simple wooden door to their dorm. At a glance everything seemed fine. The book were all neatly stacked in place, the simple red covers to their beds meticulously folded, and more or less everything was kept spotless and in its proper position. Until she noticed the mass of white hair slumped against the wall and the book bag haphazardly chucked into a corner.

Silent as a whisper, Blake fully intended to escape the situation and give her partner her privacy. That was until pale blue eyes froze her in place. Blue met amber, just like the day they became partners. Blake wondered why she was inexplicably drawn to those eyes. Eyes just like her father's that had condemned thousands of her kinsmen to death and servitude.

She had dreamt of silencing those eyes once, of burying Gambol Shroud into their frozen irises until they stained red. Once.

"Blake."

"Weiss." Blake responded carefully.

"Why are you here?" Weiss asked dully, dragging herself to her feet. She looked like she was about to collapse.

"Ruby wanted me to check up on you." Blake said simply.

"I see. Rest assured, I'm fine." Weiss said, even managing to inject some of her usual snark into her tone. The set to her shoulders and her exhausted expression however said the exact opposite.

How to breach this topic now? After their initial conversation about being teammates, there was always _something _there that deterred all conversation. Whether it was their differing political views, their naturally abrasive personalities, there was always an awkward silence when they were left in a room together. With Weiss Schnee she just didn't know how to talk to the girl.

Straight forward was probably best, succinct and to the point.

"Weiss you are not fine." Blake said flatly.

"And who are you to be the judge of that?" Weiss retorted. "I believe I know my own health better than anyone else _Belladonna._"

Well that didn't work.

"Back to surnames now?" Blake diverted, her hand tapping anxiously at her hip.

"If you insist that you know my health better then me, then yes it seems like we are." Weiss huffed, eyes blazing defiantly.

"Are you always like this, or is this just around me?" Blake said.

"Don't flatter yourself." Weiss replied dryly.

Blake nodded, descending into silence. Amber eyes were downcast and stared at the carpet.

"Well if that's all, I'll be going somewhere nice and quiet." Weiss said airily, brushing past. "I certainly won't be getting any here."

"I know a nice café down in Vale." Blake blurted out.

A moment of silence. Blake could almost see the connections forming between the heiress' neurons, evaluating motives, positives, and negatives at blinding speed.

"I'll pay for your coffee." Blake offered.

Weiss rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Sure" She muttered.

* * *

"Math is stupid." Yang groaned, slamming her face down onto her bunk. "And I have _Goodwitch_. I must have done some terrible things in my previous life."

Math was already bad enough, but with Professor Goodwitch's obsession with rules, and seeing as math was essentially nothing but a set of rules, the two were like two peas in a pod. Yang sighed and stared blearily at the mass of numbers and jumbled symbols on her paper.

"Ruuubbbyyyy." She whined, looking over at her sister. "Dooo my homework for meeeeeee."

Ruby, who had already stoically gritted her teeth, sharpened crescent rose and a new wooden pencil for the task ignored her. "The sooner you get it done, the less Weiss yells at us all." Ruby said flatly.

"It was only an hour last time Rubes." Yang said, "Princess has her schedule too nicely laid out to do anything longer than that."

"Well then she yells even longer once you've messed up her schedule." Ruby pointed out, starting on the logarithmic equation. It was a sad, vicious cycle that often repeated itself when the heiress got over stressed and when Yang got too nonchalant.

Pensive violet eyes stared at the wall. "Must be sad don't ya think Rubes?" Yang asked contemplatively.

Ruby stared blankly at her sister, "What?" she said, confusion evident in her voice.

"Well, if you had every second of everyday planned out for you… well where's the freedom in that?" Yang wondered aloud.

Ruby sighed, "And you wonder why you don't get along with Weiss." She grumbled.

"Not really, she's just a bi-"

"LANGUAGE!" Ruby yelled, jabbing her pencil threateningly in Yang's direction. "You know we have our group assessment soon, and being stuck in Forever Fall with both of you is going to get us all killed unless you two can get along."

"Fine. Fine." Yang said offhandedly, waving her hands in languid dismissal. "Princess knows when to shut up and kill things, and so do I." The golden gauntlets encased her wrists with mechanical hisses and clicks.

"So don't worry your pretty little head Ruby." Yang said, playfully jabbing at her sister.

"I'll worry anyway." Ruby mumbled, passing over her homework to Yang. "Here, you owe me one Sis." She said, watching Yang smile like it was Christmas.

"I have the greatest sister in the world!" Yang cheered, eagerly jotting down the answers and the corresponding work with her usual messy scrawl. Within the span of ten minutes she had the worksheet done. Yang then flopped back down onto her bunk and stared at the ceiling.

"Hey Ruby?" She said.

"Hmm?" Ruby mumbled, absorbed with the blade of Crescent Rose. A bottle of high intensity polish and a pristine white cloth sat beside her.

"Find any cute guys yet?" Yang asked.

"NO!" Ruby denied vehemently, spinning around the glare at her sister. In the process, she forgot that Crescent Rose was still in her hand, and she winced as the scythe sliced through a stack of hardcover books and shaved off the last inch of her dangling bed's bedpost.

A groan echoed through the room and Ruby watched in muted horror as the top bed, lacking its usual literary support, collapsed onto the bottom bunk with a thud. Pages of books lazily floated in the air as she watched.

Yang remained silent.

"Blake is going to kill me." Ruby said finally, looking down at her beautiful scythe.

"I'd put my money on Weiss." Yang chimed in helpfully.

* * *

Jaune rhythmically ran a grind stone down the edge of Crocea Mors. Shink. Shink. It was almost relaxing in a way, he reflected, grinding the blade into the killing point that it had been designed to hold. It was the only thing his father could have taught him about swordplay, how to service a weapon.

The thought of his old man sent a lance into his heart.

His father who had broken his sword arm in the war, his father who had been a warrior but could only watch as his limbs atrophied and that brilliant light called swordplay drifted farther and farther away.

But he had also learned from his father how to smile, how to grab the ladies, how to tell the world that everything was alright even though it was clear that nothing would ever be again. Those were the lessons he had learned from his father.

Shink. Shink. Shiii-. The grindstone spun away in a burst of motion as he drew it across his blade with a burst of force. The small stone clicked and clattered as it slid across the floor of their dorm. Jaune reached for it before a gauntleted hand beat him to it.

"Thanks Pyrrha." Jaune said as he accepted the proffered stone from the regal looking girl.

"It's nothing." Pyrrha replied, watching Jaune's actions with interest. "You're surprisingly good at that." She commented.

"Well at least it's something I'm good at right?" Jaune chuckled, hand rubbing behind his head sheepishly. "My dad used to say a sharp blade means a sharp mind."

"I guess it does have some merit." Pyrrha said, looking at the edge on Crocea Mors. "A sharp blade cuts better, so I suppose you don't have to think as much about the logistics of the sword getting stuck." She said.

"Exactly." Jaune said triumphantly.

Pyrrha shook her head and smiled. "So Jaune, are you excited for the group exam?" She asked.

Jaune looked at the ceiling tiredly. He'd been fretting over the group exam for a week now, ever since Professor Port had announced that it was an exam to test how well they could function with only their teammates to back them. It was also the leader's role to direct the teammates, and Port had emphasized that any failure could be traced back to the leader in some way.

"Kind off." Jaune said offhandedly.

He was freaking out in all honesty. The thought that they all trusted him to do the right thing was frightening. Terrifying. He wasn't meant to be, nor had he ever wanted to be a leader. He was just Jaune Arc, the kid who had gotten into Beacon on a fluke.

"You know, Ren has faith in you." Pyrrha said finally. "So you shouldn't worry so much."

Was he really that easy to read?

Jaune stared of into the distance. "I know." He said. "Although I'm not sure why." He added quietly, the grindstone sitting still in his hands.

They sat in silence for a couple moments.

"Do you think I can do it Pyrrha?" Jaune asked finally. Somehow her approval mattered to him. She was the girl that had extended her hand to him in partnership. She was who he was bound to for the next four years of his life.

She sat in silence for a while.

He felt his stomach sink like a rock.

"Of course I do." Pyrrha said simply, like it was obvious. She smiled her radiant smile, crimson hair shining like fire in the sunlight. "I'm your partner Jaune. If I won't belive in you, who will?"

"By the way, Ren's downstairs making pancakes for Nora. You want some?" Pyrrha said.

"Pancakes… for dinner?" Jaune asked curiously.

He got a shrug and a smile in response as Pyrrha walked out of the room.

Jaune sighed.

Crocea Mors grinned at him. _They believe in you. Their lives, their successes, their hopes and dreams, are all in your hands. _Jaune slid the sword back into its scabbard before sliding it at his side.

"Shut up." He muttered before walking downstairs to join his team.

He was greeted by a sticky embrace, courtesy of Nora and a quiet smile from Ren. Pyrrha handed him a plate full of pancakes, syrup generously drizzled over the top. Jaune allowed himself to get dragged into a conversation with Nora, half paying attention to her ramblings as he ate.

It was a nice distraction from the growing weight at his side, and the even heavier weight in his heart.

* * *

"One iced coffee and one cappuccino please." Blake requested, giving a slight smile at the barista behind the counter. The barista smiled back and accepted the proffered lien before going to whip up the drinks.

"A cappuccino is good with you right?" Blake questioned the girl behind her.

"I've never had one before." Weiss said curtly, watching the women working the coffee machine with eagle like eyes. "Although the amount of cream that woman is putting into it is kind of concerning."

Blake shrugged. "Sorry, it seemed like something you'd like."

Weiss sniffed at that. "Why would you assume that?"

"Well considering all you ever do is drink your coffee with a little sugar I figured that something different might make you… happier." Blake said cautiously.

Weiss chortled at that, Weiss Schnee happy? Happiness was for fools, for those who bore no burdens. The Schnee family, the legacy of the company _that_ was what mattered. Did Blake really think that coffee with seemingly obscene amounts of cream would make her happy?

But she said none of it.

"Here are your drinks!" The Barista said cheerfully, handing over two chilled cups. Blake gave her usual half smile, "Thank you." She said quietly. Carrying two cups in a simple cardboard tray, she turned back to Weiss.

"You wanted somewhere quiet right?" Blake asked, already moving towards a simple table in a secluded corner of the café. Weiss sighed but followed her nonetheless, eyes cautious as she took in the surroundings. Shelves full of books enclosed the interior of the café, complimenting the simple wooden décor, altogether adding to a rather homey feeling.

"This will do." Weiss conceded, taking a seat at the small table.

Blake followed suit, sitting down in the opposite chair. With the way she sat at the edge of her seat, Weiss thought she resembled a bird poised to fly.

Weiss slowly lifted her, what was it called? A cappuccino? After swirling her straw around for a couple seconds, she decided it was no use stalling and look a small sip. Aware of Blake's eyes on her, Weiss waited as a creamy coffee like flavor flooded onto her taste buds.

"It's… decent." Weiss said slowly.

"I'm glad you like it." Blake said, sipping from her own cup of iced coffee. "So… mind telling me what's going on?"

"So did you drag me out here just to butter me up so I can spill all my secrets?" Weiss asked dryly.

Blake shrugged, although the way her fingers began a drum roll on the cover of her book betrayed her nervousness. "If you want to talk then you can." Blake said.

She supposed it could have been worse. Still the thought of admitting that something was wrong made her feel like she was exposing a chink in her armor. The instant someone found out, they would be on her like baying dogs. People never changed, whether they were in the corporate world or in the real world, they always wanted something.

"And what makes you think I'd want to talk to you?" Weiss sneered, glaring at Blake.

"Is there anyone who you would want to talk to?" Blake replied. Fair enough. "Besides, I'm your partner, if you can't trust me then I'm not sure who else you'd want to talk to."

While they were partners, it was only a title. They were more like loose acquaintances. Yes, acquaintances. It was a word that implied distance, safety.

"Why are you so insistent on knowing?" Weiss deflected. "It's not like you actually care about me."

"Maybe." Blake acknowledged, staring at Weiss. "But you care about me."

"What?" Weiss laughed, using the action to cover up her confusion. "I do not."

"You carried me back that one day I fainted."

Right. It was an unfortunate event that she had tried to blot out of her memory. The feeling of Blake's body draped over hers, those endless flights of stairs that eventually led up to the nurse's office. She remembered the unusual feeling of relief as she set Blake down a cot, the uncharacteristic action of waiting at her bedside until she woke up.

"You don't deny that, right?" Blake asked quietly.

Weiss watched her eyes, watched the way amber seemed to spark and dance.

"No." Weiss said. She felt like she was standing on quick sand, at any second she would fall in and she could do nothing but wait.

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Blake pressed.

"Because!" Weiss snarled.

"Because what?" Blake retorted, matching her tone.

"Because I'm not incompetent Belladonna! I'm not a weakling! I don't _need _you to take care of me, I don't want you to. Just leave me alone!" Weiss snapped, her temper boiling over.

It was a very uncharacteristic outburst. But she was so tired, exhausted even and Blake had insisted on prying. Weiss quickly stood up, feeling the stares leveled at her back like bolts of ice as she turned around and prepared to walk out the café.

She wasn't sure what she was feeling, something hot and ugly like liquid fire seared across her heart. Then a softness that was warm but so heartbreakingly painful. It all blended into an emotional maelstrom that howled at the world. With one foot out the door Weiss turned around and glanced behind her. Amber eyes stared back, they glinted with something. Was it regret? Vindication? Disgust?

Weiss walked out.


	5. Vindication

Vindication

Slate

* * *

Was she sorry? That was the first thought that ran quietly through Blake Belladonna's mind as she stared at the leaves blowing gently in the wind. The answer came a moment later without pause. No, she wasn't _really_ sorry. It wasn't like it was her fault anyway. Weiss was the one in the wrong. She had just been a good teammate and tried to help.

And that was the crux of the problem. Some buried sadistic part of her _smiled_ when Weiss had stormed out, something inside of her twisted and curled in self deprecating happiness when she enraged Weiss. Some part of her really didn't care at all.

But she cared didn't she? Blake Belladonna, student of Beacon cared about Weiss.

She should care, she knew that. She should. Weiss was her teammate, partner even, and partners helped each other. Or they should.

But it was Weiss Schnee. Schnee. The name that had been on every shipment of dust, every political statement demeaning Faunus, branded into the minds of every Faunus on the planet. The scars that lay across her back tingled. Was that so wrong? That she couldn't forgive someone who had done all of that to her?

Blake sighed and slowly turned a page in her book. She tried to focus. Words floated across the page, blurring together into a blotched mess of white and black. The heavy weight in her gut wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, it was still there.

Time idly drifted by, the hour hand slowly completing its circle around and around the clock. Distantly, Blake remembered that the last airship out of Beacon would be leaving soon and that she had been sitting in the café for far too long. With that thought in mind, Blake tightened her resolve and walked out the door.

Her footsteps echoed quietly through the airship terminal and her mind slowly blanked out all other sound except for her own footsteps. Thud. Thud. The steps were robotic, mindless, and simple. Her feet boarded the airship back to Beacon. Someone was talking to her. The buzzing in her ears, both of them, told her that. A disinterested glance from amber eyes turned away the puzzled airship pilot. She stared out the window of her seat.

The clouds drifted by, stained black by the night and alit by the dying sun.

She wasn't in the wrong.

She wasn't.

She couldn't be.

In the distance, the bell tower chimed its low tone.

* * *

"The nerve…" Weiss seethed to herself quietly. "Blake Belladonna I…" Weiss hissed as she paced down the streets of Vale. Her boots clicked sharply against the pavement as she went. "I…" She breathed in quietly. "I…."

"I hate you," She choked out. Immediately after saying the words, she felt sick.

Always trying to look after her, always trying to make sure she was okay, what right did she have to do so? Her thoughts were her own and no one else's, her feelings were her own and also no one else's. Was that so hard to understand?

It was getting dark soon. The sun was falling down the horizon in its usual circular path and the gentle street lights flickered in their bulbs. Vale was strangely beautiful at night, Weiss observed quietly, her ire slowly dying as the beautiful lights died the streets a striking yellow, contrasting with the night sky, with shades of violet and midnight streaking through the air.

It was a shame that the city's lights engulfed the glow of the stars. The view would otherwise be truly breathtaking. People strode down the street, some in shoddy attire others in their Sunday's best, all smiling and laughing. She stood and watched quietly as a small family, composed of a father, a mother, and a young girl meandered down the streets with no intent except to enjoy a night out as family.

The girl tugged the hand of her father, leaning up to speak quietly into her father's accommodating ear. The father laughed quietly, with the mother smiling fondly at the both of them. The family vanished into a small café.

She had that once, a family that had loved her and she them, a long time ago anyway. Before grandfather had died and her father was entrusted with the weight of the company, before her mother had smiled her last from red soaked hospital sheets, before a scar branded her left eye with Winter looking on in muted horror.

"I hate you," She repeated to herself quietly, a finger unconsciously running over the mark on her eye. A wind gusted. She shivered. In the fall nights in Vale were rather chilly. Even if she had been brought up in the snowy depths in Atlas, she still felt the cold. Weiss pulled her bolero jacket tightly around her. She must have made a rich sight, the heiress of the Schnee Company in the streets like a common orphan.

"You alright out there little miss?" A gruff voice asked her, jolting her out of her stupor.

"I'm fine," Weiss replied frostily, tightening up her posture and naturally standing tall.

She looked up at a tall, dark haired, heavily built man, dressed plainly in jeans and brown shirt. Long sideburns ran down the sides of his face, framing a sharp face. The eyes were what stood out to her though; they were striking and amber, almost gold really.

"You don't look fine," The man pointed out dryly, "Why don't you come inside the shop? I'd hate to leave a girl outside at night," He offered gruffly, although not unkindly.

She was very tempted to decline the offer, pride stinging at accepting help. The wind gusted harder and with a touch of winter on its breath. She shivered. Weiss rose gracefully to her feet. "Thank you sir, I am in your debt."She curtsied politely, like she had been taught in her youth.

"Please, just call me Tucson," The man chuckled, opening the door to his store. "And it's something any decent person would do," He said gruffly, a hint of bashfulness tinting his tone.

Weiss eagerly rushed her way into the store, welcoming the warmth that enfolded the area like a blanket. The shelves were the first thing she noticed, simple but functional wooden shelves covered every single wall and each monolith was filled to the brim with hundreds upon thousands of books. She spied dusty tomes that looked like no one had bothered to pick them up in years to well-used comic books, worn by an enthusiastic child's hands.

"You have a nice store Tucson," Weiss commented politely, running a finger over a dusty tome.

"I'm glad you like it," Tucson said proudly, moving back behind a battered old wooden counter. "I've spent years building up this collection. Here we have every book under the sun!" He laughed, effortlessly lifting a crate of books onto the counter.

"You can take a look if you like, I've got some sorting to do," He said, patting the crate of books fondly.

"Please, let me assist you. I owe you that much at least." Weiss said politely. She'd be damned if she didn't do anything in return. Heiresses didn't accept charity from anyone.

"Are you sure? You look like you'd be more comfortable in a bed at the moment," Tucson observed.

Ignoring the exhaustion that dragged on her shoulders, she nodded "Just tell me what you need done," Weiss said firmly.

Tucson raised an eyebrow but shrugged. "You can help organize the books if you want," He said, patting the crate of books in front of him.

The next few hours were spent methodically organizing the box of books into alphabetical order and finding their place in the massive archive of tomes in the store. It was methodical, boring work that inevitably led to the need to do something to keep the mind distracted. So they talked, at first about simple things like the shop and the state of Vale. That led to topics on local government and then branching out into numerous other fields of academia and Weiss found herself enjoying the conversation more than she thought she would.

Despite the rugged looks, Tucson was a well educated man, who truly had read a book on every subject under the sun. It was refreshing to meet someone as well read as herself along with the fact that Tucson spoke calmly and methodically, outlining arguments and taking down her own as easily as he ordered his books. They spent several hours like that, sorting books and discussing vague topics.

"Why were you out on the street anyway?" Tucson asked after a lively discussion on Kingdom politics. There was a brief period of silence, the only noises being the rasp of books being slid into their proper place on the shelves. "Did you get lost or something?" He inquired curiously.

"Not really," Weiss mumbled, shoving a book into place. "I guess I had an argument with someone I knew and I forgot that the last airship to Beacon left a while ago."

"Was this person a friend?" Tucson asked.

"Well… kind of… I guess," Weiss said quietly, her voice slowly trailing away. Was Blake her friend? She was her partner, and that was a word that had all sorts of connotations that didn't apply to their relationship. Their relationship held none of the closeness, none of the warmth that the word implied. She was, despite how unusual it felt, oddly sad that their relationship wasn't like that.

"Well then what did they do?" Tucson inquired simply, long fingers tapping a beat on the cover of a book.

"She poked her head into my own business." Weiss said firmly, shoving a book into place with unneeded force. "I suppose a better way to put it would be she tried to take care of me. I didn't ask for, or want to be taken care of. I just want to be left alone, is that too much to ask?" She beseeched Tucson.

"Well isn't that what friends are supposed to do?" Tucson inquired simply, "After all, if a friend always agrees with you and they never offer their opinion when you're doing something they think is bad, and you end up hurt or worse off because of it. Doesn't that make them a bad friend?"

"But who's to say that she knows what's best?" Weiss insisted.

"Well she doesn't, but the fact that she commented meant that some part of her cares." Tucson rumbled, "And isn't it better to have someone to care about you then no one at all?"

Someone who cared about her? Didn't her father care about her until he condemned her to a fortress of her own solitude and hid her away from her sister? Didn't her mother care about her until she left her when she needed her the most?

Vestiges of kindness flickered past her memory, that girl with amber eyes who had crashed into her at break neck speed, that girl who she had carried up those flights of stairs for no reason other than she was her partner. Was that what it was like to have a friend? Passing moments of warmth with the ever present threat of abandonment?

Solitude was safe, but so very cold, lonely, and painful.

"I don't know." Weiss said finally a small crack in her voice.

"Give her a chance." Tucson said wisely, "You're too smart of a girl to just let a friend walk away."

"Thank you Tucson. For everything," Weiss said quietly.

"I should be thanking you for keeping a man like me company," Tucson said with a warm smile. "Now why don't you go get some sleep? There's a spare mattress in the back if you want it. I'll just be up a little while longer, just need to wipe this place down."

Weiss thanked him again and made her way to the back, cautiously navigating through stacks of books to reach a simple mattress with a plain but thick comforter draped across it. Weiss meticulously removed her shoes and curled up under the heavy blanket.

She breathed in quietly.

"_Why are you so angry at my sister! She's just trying to help!"_

"_I've never had a partner before. But I'm willing to try."_

"_Heya Weiss… so umm…. Doyouneedhelp?"_

The words drifted through her mind. Was that what kindness was?

"_Well I've never had a partner before, but I'm willing to give it a try."_

Weiss sighed. Belladonna, Blake Belladonna, her partner.

The word was so much more confusing that it seemed.

* * *

"Where is she?" Ruby muttered to herself fretfully, with her eyes scanning the room like darting silver spotlights. Weiss hadn't come back after her encounter with Blake, and Blake had been increasingly tight lipped and darker than usual when she questioned her about what had happened that night. One day had turned two, and at the end of the third day she was absolutely frantic.

"Where is she?" She repeated, raising her voice with a pointed glance at Blake.

The black haired girl shrugged and stared moodily out the window. "Still in Vale I'd guess." She said softly, apparently watching the way the sunlight played against the leaves of the trees. If Ruby had to guess, she'd say that Blake was avoiding her eyes.

"Yang have you seen her?" Ruby fretted desperately, spinning around with a twirl of her cape to look beseechingly at her sister.

"Sorry Rubes," Yang said, for once working on her homework. _Weiss would be proud _Ruby thought idly. "I haven't seen her since last Strategy and Tactics class."

Ruby groaned. "Where could she possibly be?" She said a ball of frantic energy as she paced and zipped around the room with occasional augmentation from her semblance.

Blake was reading again. Yang was doing homework. It was like Weiss had never existed and life just went on without her.

"You should calm down Ruby." Blake said distantly, "Your aura's getting out of control."

The flickers of her semblance were jettisoning dozens of rose petals through the air and unlike their usual pleasant scent, these smelt acrid and bitter. Ruby grudgingly obliged, but kept on pacing around the room. "Don't either of you care?" Ruby accused violently after a moment of silence. "She's our teammate no matter how much of a bitch she can be."

Yang looked up from her scroll, eyes stormy and dark violet. "Ruby, I'll be honest here. Princess doesn't give a damn about anything but her grades. She could care less about us and frankly she doesn't deserve the amount of worry you're using on her. She'll be back eventually so stop worrying," Yang said curtly.

Ruby knew Yang had never liked Weiss, not since she had exploded on them the first day at Beacon. But that wasn't a good enough excuse. The fragile balance they had established had worked, Yang and Weiss just never spoke, Blake and Weiss did their work, and Ruby tried to talk to everybody. Until it had all shattered to pieces and Blake wouldn't tell her why.

Ruby's eyes flared. "I'm team leader Yang! Team leader! And she's a teammate there for she deserves every amount of worry that I'm 'wasting on her'. She's also your teammate and we're finding her whether you like it or not!"

This was new. She was always the quiet sister, the one that always let Yang take the spot light while she faded into the background. But she was a leader now. That was a fact that she reminded herself every time she saw the proud word RWBY engraved on the door of their room. Good leader's cared about teammates and she was going to be a good leader.

Yang's eyes sparked crimson in response. "You know full well that Weiss resents you for being team leader, she wanted the position and you took it away from her. So stop caring, she sure as hell doesn't."

"But she's still a teammate Yang, motives aside she's still a part of team RWBY."

There was a moment of strained silence with silver and crimson eyes standing off before Ruby finally averted her eyes.

"And what about you?" Ruby questioned, intense silver orbs leveled at Blake. "Do you care at all?"

For the first time that morning, Blake met her gaze and amber eyes gleamed with untold levels of anguish warring with the flickering fire that Ruby easily identified as anger.

"I don't know." Blake said finally, eyes straying toward the empty top bunk.

The door clicked behind her as she swept out of the room.

Ruby sighed and absently fiddled with Crescent Rose. It was all wrong, somewhere in another universe, she was sure that this would have been different. They would have all been happy, the greatest of friends and the greatest team at Beacon.

She had always been optimistic like that.

* * *

Jaune sighed quietly as he spun Crocea Mors in a small half circle in his hands. The grip was built to mold itself into his hand, but he couldn't help but notice how rough it felt, how utterly unusual it was.

Across the arena Cardin Winchester sneered as he readied his mace. The weapon was utterly graceless, simplistic, and brutal. The sharp prongs on the mace retracted from a solid steel bar that formed the shaft and handle of the spear and that was it. It really was a weapon that suited Cardin, emphasizing brute strength with none of the fanciful dust technology that had choked so much of modern day weaponry.

Just like Crocea Mors, it was a weapon fashioned in a time when steel and grit had been in much more ready supply than caches of dust. Although Jaune observed a touch bitterly, the jagged prongs looked like they were brand new. It was a far cry from the gleaming but clearly well worn blade of Crocea Mors.

Above the duo, a countdown slowly chimed its way down.

Three.

Jaune breathed in, slowly lowering his center of gravity and raising his shield to chest height. Even if his family had given him no actual combat training, his father had still managed to show him the proper way to hold his sword. You didn't need two legs to demonstrate a sword grip.

Two.

"I hope you're ready for another visit to the infirmary." Cardin said, lips curled in dark amusement.

Jaune didn't design to reply and he instead stared intently at the boy opposite from him.

Cardin easily held his weapon in his right hand, the head of the mace barely raised to facilitate a burst of rapid movement. The well polished steel armor he wore flickered in the light of the arena, another reminder of his opponent's upbringing. The sneer melted off his face and was replaced by an expression of barely restrained anger, storing the emotion for an explosive rush at the chime of the countdown.

One.

Jaune's eyes flickered unconsciously over to Pyrrha. She gave him a wan smile. He could see her hands tightly gripping the banister. Beside her Nora was cheering loudly. Ren gave him a small nod. Crocea Mors dragged downwards in his hands, the blade a lead weight in his hand.

Zero.

He could see it, the barely withheld energy in Cardin erupting as the other boy lunged, the mace held ready to crush and tear without hesitation in a high downward blow. The only issue was, even if he could see it, his body didn't necessarily move fast enough to do anything about it. He caught the blow on his shield, a terrible idea considering the nature of a mace, jarring his shoulders and nearly forcing onto one knee.

Crocea Mors sloppily lashed forward, blade aimed for the junction between neck and shoulder. Cardin swatted the blade away with an easy backhand from his left arm and readied his mace for another blow. This time he swung wide and Jaune, still reeling from the last blow, didn't react fast enough and he was sent flying sideways into a painful skid across the floor.

Jaune immediately hauled himself up, shield at the ready, only to see Cardin lazily walking toward him. "Well Jauney boy, do you think one or two weeks in the infirmary is long enough for someone like you? I'd personally bank on three," he said coolly and brought his mace up for a final crushing blow on Jaune's left leg.

Jaune desperately threw his shield forward to intercept the blow. It felt like an airship had crashed into the shield, the sudden explosion of fire and force reminded him that, despite the lack of visible dust power sources, Cardin's mace could still detonate and explode as well as any dust powered weapon.

Was that Cardin's semblance?

He had no time to think further as the blow forced him to his knees, the worn floor beneath him creaking ominously. His shield arm fell loosely to his side. Did he really expect anything else to happen? He supposed the best idea would be to try to minimize the pain. Maybe if he counted to three the pain would be less. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling oddly tranquil in that moment.

The shield in Jaune's left arm moved and shoved forward, a dull ring echoed in the recesses of his mind. Thunk. The heavy piece of metal impacted Cardin and sent him reeling for a moment and he desperately raised the mace to parry a sudden dancing blow with Crocea Mors.

Then with a quick low sweep Cardin retaliated and Jaune was again on his back, staring drowsily at the ceiling.

"That is enough ," Professor Goodwitch said coolly. "Good use of your own physical strength to overpower your opponent, so long as you can guarantee you are stronger than your opponent then that mace will serve you well. Although your attitude could use some work," She added.

Cardin's sneer melted slightly.

" , your performance certainly doesn't reflect your stunning transcript, I suggest you work harder. Improving your ability to react would be my first suggestion although the shield bash and follow up was surprisingly well executed." Professor Goodwitch said, addressing the groaning teen on the floor.

"Class dismissed." She said imperiously.

Pyrrha frowned for a moment as the rest of the class filed out of the arena. She watched as Jaune hauled himself on his feet along with the grimace on his face. Had she imagined the momentary flicker of white light? The shield and sword in his hands had danced with aura for a split second and he had parried and riposted with the grace of an experienced warrior.

Jaune was an Arc after all, no matter what anything else implied, maybe it shouldn't have come as a surprise that he had acted so contrary to how she had known him. She frowned as she replayed the first moments of the fight. She had seen his eyes dart and analyze his opponent in seconds, blue orbs intense and searching. Despite his initially pathetic display, he had a sudden surge of skill. Was he holding back?

"Jaune." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, that lopsided smile on his face like usual.

Thump!

Her first impacted straight against his breastplate and he was sent flying backwards.

"Oww… What was that for?" Jaune complained, rubbing the back of his head as he picked himself up once again from the floor.

Pyrrha frowned again. Was she wrong? Was he really as incompetent as he made himself out to be? She sighed, maybe it was for the best, better to stay ignorant than have one's hopes crushed. With that thought in mind she made to walk out the room, but her foot caught on a stack of weights, sending them crashing down onto the floor. And right on top of a disoriented Jaune.

"Jau-" Pyrrha exclaimed.

Thunk. An ominous thud rang out through the room before a symphony of metal on metal shrieked through the air.

"Next time, warn me when that's going to happen." Jaune gasped, Crocea Mors somehow in his right and his shield on his left. As Pyrrha watched, a bright white sheen drained away from the surface of his shield and from the blade of Crocea Mors. Beside him laid a pile of weights, miraculously deflected from their original trajectory.

There was no doubt now.

"Jaune. Do you mind meeting up on the roof after dinner?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune gulped. He didn't really like the look on her face, it looked too much like a shark's grin, eyeing a particularly juicy fish. "Sure…?" he said cautiously.

Pyrrha nodded, satisfied, sensing the tendrils of his aura whisper around him like a second skin. How had she never noticed before?

His aura was powerful, lethal even. It was always said that aura reflected the nature of a person and their potential. To think that clumsy Jaune would have such an aura…

She had a warrior to train.

* * *

It was quiet.

Here in the library, it was always quiet. Hunters and Huntresses by nature didn't enjoy sitting in one place and books were only ever looked upon by the seriously scholarly or finals week, when everybody was cramming for tests. The thousands of tomes sat lonely and unread, given only the most cursory of glances before they vanished into obscurity.

Blake breathed, inhaling the scent of musty pages and book binding glue. Obscure they may be but back in her early days in the White Fang, one of their informants had been an avid reader and book collector and he had introduced her to the wonderful escape that was fantasy. Books had been a gateway for her, a world where knights conquered dragons and where heroes always defeated the villains. There was none of the ambiguity that was so prevalent in life, none of the strife and none of the suffering.

There was only the idealistic clash between good and evil that she strived for.

Sometimes she tried to convince herself that was true. A flash of ice blue eyes and white tresses flickered in her mind.

The pages slowly slid between her fingers.

She started reading.

_Date: January 11__th__, Dawn of Remnant_

_Did I make a mistake? The Kingdom's were doomed to fall, I only hastened the collapse. Vale was destined to be the light in the darkness, not Atlas, nor Vacuo. Was my King wrong? Was I wrong? No I couldn't have been wrong… _

She slammed the book shut.

Historical accounts weren't really her thing anyway. Maybe a nice fiction book would be more to her taste. Blake picked up a classical looking novel and quickly read the summary. A romance book? Well it could have been worse.

_Why did she leave? Why? What did I do? I shouldn't have done it; I knew I shouldn't ha-_

She flung the book away with the rest, oblivious to the scandalized look on the librarian's face.

God damn it. Why? Why? She hadn't made a mistake. She didn't make a mistake. She didn't make a mistake. She didn't make a mistake.

She inhaled deeply. She had come to the library to relax. Or at least that was the goal.

The silence was instead the perfect place for that emotion in her chest to fester. It grew worse as she stared at the lonely bookshelves with no one but her and a librarian to keep them company.

Weiss. She had avoided thinking about the white haired girl for the last two days.

When she had first seen the heiress, she had been shocked, disgusted even. It was even more so when she had been partnered with her. She had been a thing, nothing more than her family name bound in a human skin. Then they had been on a team together for a few weeks.

She could now place a personality to the name. Weiss liked taking long showers and sleeping in when she had the chance to. She was unyielding in her practice of swordplay and even singing, diligently running through arias when she thought everyone else was asleep. She held everyone at a distance with her sharp personality but when they got the opportunity to get close she could be so very kind.

She had no trouble hurting the thing that was wielded like a tool by the Schnee family. The girl who had carried her up the stairs when she was injured, the girl who had looked so mournfully lonely and then so relieved when she had found a friend, that was someone that she treasured. That was the person that Ruby defended so ardently and the person that Yang couldn't bring herself to see.

Blake quietly walked out of the library.

"Where are you Weiss?" She said aloud as she stared out of a window to look at the outside courtyard.

The wind gusted against her face.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Thank you Tucson. For everything." The voice drifted up through the window and reached her ears like the kiss of a snowflake. There was an unusual mote of kindness and genuine gratitude in the voice. Her eyes snapped open.

"You've thanked me more times in these last days then I've been thanked in years girl. But nonetheless, you are welcome." A deep gruff voice said with a small chuckle.

Blake watched, quietly astounded as Weiss reached over and gave a brief hug to the heavily built man. The heiress then waved at the man as he departed back to Vale on the airship. Then Weiss' posture sagged, a visible arc in her spine, before she straightened and carried herself like she always did. The girl walked up to the steps of Beacon and vanished inside.

Blake sat there for a moment. Weiss was back. It had been a long two days, but the sight of the white haired girl brought mixed feelings. The weight in her chest quadrupled but she felt inexplicably lighter, like she was drowning but she could see the surface of the water inches from her face.

Ruby would be happy. Yang would be grumpy.

But what would she be? Would she be relieved or quietly seething beneath her modicum of calm?

There was only one way to find out. With a flicker of her semblance and natural speed, Blake vanished.

The shadows swallowed her and meters shrank to inches as her vision blurred. Without a sound, Blake landed behind one of the many marble pillars that lined Beacon's hallways. A rush of wind rushed by her nose as Blake stood quietly behind a pillar. Snow white strands flashed by her eyes and her breath caught in her throat.

Weiss was quietly staring at the door to their room, eyes an intense blue. Blake could hear Ruby and Yang grumbling inside and she watched as Weiss' hand strayed towards the door. Moments before her fingers closed around the door knob Blake cleared her throat. Just like so many times before, blue eyes met amber. Weiss didn't look surprised though, just resigned, like she knew this was going to happen eventually.

"Hey" Blake said quietly, hands itching to play with the book in her hands, or twiddle with her bow.

"Hey," Weiss said in the same voice, "How long have you been standing there?" She asked dryly, tilting her head, a hand on her hips. She smelled like old books and snow, an unusual combination that lacked the expensive perfume she normally wore.

"Not too long." Blake said truthfully.

Her heart thudded in her chest, the beat like a metronome, constant, comforting, and subject to change at a moment's notice. Why had she come again? The weight in her chest had moved to her throat and it sat there, heavy and cloying.

"Look…" Blake began, the words like glass shards in her throat.

"I'm sorry," Weiss said, cutting her off.

"Wait… What?" Blake sputtered.

"You were just trying to help," Weiss said, looking more exhausted than she had any right to. "And I got angry at you. So I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Blake said quietly.

"I'm glad." Weiss said.

The sound of Ruby complaining and cheering behind the door echoed through the hall. Far above them, the clock tower chimed its solemn tone. In the distance, Blake could hear the sounds of the airships soaring away and beneath that, the wind merrily rushing by.

"Partners?" Blake asked, extending her hand.

A sardonic smirk passed Weiss' face. "Please Belladonna," Weiss said, hand gripping Blake's tightly. "I think we can call each other friends at this point."

Blake was tugged into a hug and the warm arms that wrapped around her were comforting. They brought back sensations that she hadn't had since she was a child and cared for by her father and mother, times long washed away by the White Fang and replaced by times of strife and bloodshed.

"Friends." Blake agreed, inhaling Weiss' scent, frozen wind and vanilla wreathing around her.

She tightened her grip around Weiss, her face on the shorter girls shoulder. Below her, the Schnee symbol emblazoned on Weiss' jacket winked at her. Her ears twitched slightly in the wind, the movement concealed by her black bow.

There were so many secrets that both of them still had.

But for the first time Blake wholeheartedly felt like this was something worth keeping.

* * *

**R&amp;R Review and you get a cookie. Maybe. **


	6. Anticipation

The sound of a small sigh awoke Blake, the ears beneath her bow twitching and instinctively swiveling to pinpoint the sound. Amber eyes slowly slid open soon after, the sounds of heavy breathing and light snuffles from Yang and Ruby masking the otherwise distinct sound of clothes being pulled on and the soft click of a sword being removed from its stand.

A couple blinks removed the bleariness from her eyes and Blake quietly sat up in her bed to observe Weiss with her back to her, half clad in her usual white skirt, but the accompanying top and bolero jacket missing.

Porcelain skin and slender arms were the focus of her attention for a couple moments before her brain realized that she wasn't wearing a bra. Cheeks flushed cherry red at the thought, but the more damning part of her reaction was the small sharp gasp that she made, almost inaudible really, that rang like a gong in contrast to the rhythmic breathes of the other two members of the room.

Weiss turned around. Crystalline blue eyes alight with the fury of a winter maelstrom met her own liquid gold. She must have been a rather comical sight Blake reflected, flushed cheeks and off-balance expression aside.

There was a moment of scandalized silence before Blake realized just how bad of a situation it would be if _Yang _awoke to her staring star struck at a topless Weiss. With a silence born from habit and painstaking caution, Blake lunged out of her bed and silenced the oncoming outburst by clamping her hand over the heiress' mouth, pinning Weiss to the carpet in the process.

When no scream came, Blake relaxed. Unfortunately, the momentary surge of adrenaline that had saved her from Yang's teasing also resulted in the hyperawareness of her surroundings. There was the fact that the carpet it their room was painfully itchy against her skin and the fact that she had more or less straddled Weiss against the ground with the top half of her body flush against Weiss'.

For a person hailed as an ice queen by the majority of the student body, she was surprisingly warm, and the two mounds of flesh pressed against her, even through the fabric of the robe she wore to bed, set her skin aflame. Her skin was also soft, unmarred by any scars or bruises from what she could feel, and the barest trace of a heartbeat beat against her chest in tandem with her own.

Weiss' breath ghosted against her hand and Blake's senses were assailed by an onslaught of vanilla and crisp winter air. Blake hesitated, savoring the sensations a fraction of a second longer, before she threw herself off Weiss and moved as far away as possible.

Skin flushed from either embarrassment or rage, the latter being far more likely, Weiss quickly pulled on her usual outfit, eyes staring resolutely at a spot on the wall before darting to the sleeping forms of both Yang and Ruby.

There was an unmistakable gesture towards the door and Blake numbly obeyed; her robe was still warm she mechanically noted. With a click the door opened and she existed into the eerily silent hallway. Weiss followed, a moment behind.

The door quietly closed behind the two of them.

"What are you doing up so early?" Weiss hissed immediately after Blake heard the click of the door closing.

"You woke me up." Blake defended.

"I've been doing this for the past month and this is the first time I've woken you?" Weiss said, disbelief evident in her voice.

Blake avoided the needle-like blue gaze. "Yes." She lied.

There was a moment of silence.

Then Weiss huffed, a short puff of air from her lips, accompanied by a wry smile. "Alright then," She muttered, before staring directly at Blake, "Go back to sleep Blake."

"Where are you going?" She asked automatically.

Weiss raised an eyebrow before tapping Myrtenaster with her hand. The action was self explanatory. Weiss started to move down the hall, towards a training room Blake assumed.

"Can I join you?" Blake asked impulsively.

It wasn't like she had actively planned for this scenario to happen, but it was an opportunity to get to know her partner better. Ever since their fall out a week ago, things had been noticeable warmer between the two of them. But for Blake, lukewarm was certainly not the way things were supposed to feel between partners.

She could see the deliberation in her partner's eyes before a grumbled "if you want to" reached her ears.

Feeling oddly relieved, Blake went back into the room and grabbed Gambol Shroud from its usual place under her pillow and threw on a simple black T-shirt and matching sweats. She exited the room to find Weiss tapping her foot frenetically, the movement stopping as she caught sight of Blake.

"Hurry up," Weiss grumbled as her eyes glanced at the clock in the hall way, "we only have an hour until they breakfast starts in the cafeteria."

"So that is how you get your food so fast." Blake mused aloud, Ruby, Yang, and herself were always disgruntled when they awoke in the mornings to the sight of Weiss sipping a cup of coffee and munching on a pastry of some sort. This was, of course, done while Weiss thumbed through the daily news on her scroll.

Weiss declined to respond, steadily walking towards the training room.

There was a brief period of silence. It wasn't awkward or painfully bottled with anticipation, but Blake wouldn't have called it comfortable either. It was tranquil. Yes, that was a good word to describe it, tranquil. They reached the door to the training room and with a brief shove, it opened and the two teens quickly made their way into the room.

Blake's eyes quickly took in the assortment of training dummies haphazardly arranged around the room before dismissing them from her mind. No, those wouldn't do at all, not for her purposes anyway.

There was a quiet rasp of metal against metal as she unsheathed Gambol Shroud from its cleaver-like sheath and turned to face Weiss.

"What is that you're supposed to say when you do this again? En garde?" Blake asked jokingly, Gambol Shroud twirling in her hands.

A smile flitted across Weiss' face, a quiet gust of amusement escaping from her lips, before Mytenasterr was raised, poised to strike.

"Something like that," She agreed, "although, your accent's all wrong."

"Well then, my apologies princess." Blake jibed, anticipation loosening her tongue as she swung Gambol Shroud in a steely arc.

Irritation flashed across Weiss face for a second, before she parried the dancing slice from Gambol Shroud.

Weiss laughed, a full smile illuminating her face.

"It's heiress actually," She replied, retaliating with a stab of her own.

Blake redirected the stab, a similar smile crossing her face.

What was it that Professor Williams had said about swordplay? A _master of the blade is more than talented, he speaks with the blade and the blade speaks through him. _

She supposed this was one way to get to know her teammate better, however unorthodox it maybe.

However as she blocked a stab with the flat of the cleaver sheath of Gambol Shroud, she admitted that, truthfully, no simple conversation at a café or any fireside chat would have compared to the feeling of steel scraping against steel and the restrained excitement conveyed through the material.

Two fires burned bright in the hour before the morning.

* * *

Jaune exhaled, a slow release of tension, before inhaling, a short huff of air that surged wildly in his lungs-, and exhaled again. White motes of light flared slowly into existence before dimming again into nothingness.

Inhale. The aura came, harmonious chaos surging through his veins, and with a firm command, he ordered the force into motion: to flow through his hands, to encase his forearms like the simple white metal bracers did now.

A slight tingling around his fingers was all he felt before it thrashed wildly in opposition, fluctuating and struggling against his command. With a sudden rush, it vanished and exhaustion hit with the force of a hammer. Jaune grimaced and opened his eyes. Exhale.

Pyrrha looked at him expectantly. "Well?" She asked.

"Nothing." Jaune sighed, flopping against the flagstone floor of the balcony, "Absolutely nothing."

"But you feel the aura don't you?" Pyrrha pressed, "Like pins and needles on your finger tips."

"Only when I try to control it." Jaune said annoyed, tapping a rhythm against the sheath of Crocea Moors. "Otherwise it just feels… chaotic." He said, unsure how to describe the feeling.

Pyrrha glanced at him, embodying the epitome of a schoolteacher, as she chided him. "How many times do I have to tell you? You don't force your aura into doing anything; you let it naturally do what its tendency is to do. And that tendency is what makes up your semblance. Controlling it comes later."

"But my aura doesn't want to well _do _anything." Jaune replied plaintively. He wasn't complaining –yet- but they had spent far too long trying to figure out what his semblance was with minimal results.

It wasn't a problem for other people who had been training with their aura from birth, younger children tended to manifest their semblances naturally when their aura had been unlocked, a byproduct of a child's natural curiosity and lackadaisical nature. However, for him, his aura had been unlocked during the initiation by Pyrrha and nothing came naturally to him, at all.

Pyrrha sighed leaning back against the balcony. "At least we can work on your weapon skills," She encouraged, "But in the mean time, you should talk to Ren."

"Ren?" Jaune asked curiously, "Why?"

"Using aura to augment physical blows without a conduit like a weapon requires years of training. If you haven't noticed, Ren has more or less mastered that art." Pyrrha said dryly.

Ren had demonstrated the ability on more than one occasion, blowing through training dummies like they were made of cardboard and not high grade steel alloy. A tempest through a field of flowers, leaving scattered petals and metal limbs alike in its path.

"In any case, he's probably a better teacher than I am when it comes to aura." Pyrrha admitted, a bit petulantly.

"But come to me for weapons training right Jaune?" Pyhrra said, eyes zeroing in on the blonde. "You need all the help you can get, considering our first mission is assigned today."

Jaune sighed, leaning tiredly against the wall, "Don't remind me," He groaned.

Pyrrha smiled at that. "You'll be fine." She said encouragingly, hand automatically rose to rest on his shoulder before she hastily withdrew the limb.

Jaune smiled appreciatively at her, "Thanks Pyrrha," he said quietly.

"Of course," Pyrrha said with a radiant smile, "Now what do you say we head down for breakfast? I personally hate waiting in line and the best pancakes are always at the beginning!"

Jaune watched the jovial girl walk out of the room before he followed. He sighed quietly to himself. What he done to deserve such a wonderful partner?

* * *

"You two are looking pretty happy," Yang observed boisterously as she shoveled waffles and pancakes into the vacuum that was her mouth.

Weiss winced as she watched the veritable fountain of syrup drip of the edge of the pancake. "I suppose so," She murmured, spreading a thin layer of gooseberry jam over her toast.

"You suppose?!" Yang queried incredulously, poking moodily at her waffle, "Just admit you're happy for once Princess."

"Lay off Yang," Blake said quietly, quickly interrupting the diatribe Weiss was about to deliver.

Weiss flashed her a grateful look before pulling out her binders, quickly flipping to an assignment sheet.

"So, our first official mission is assigned today," Weiss said simply, fixing piercing blue eyes upon Ruby. The girl chomped on her cookies before nodding, attempting to speak before spraying crumbs everywhere.

Whereas months ago, Weiss would have torn Ruby to shreds at spreading crumbs everywhere along with the impropriety of speaking with one's mouth open, now she just rolled her eyes before flicking her finger, a small glyph deflecting the crumbs away from her outfit.

"As I was saying," Weiss continued, "Mission assignments are today, I've looked through past records and generally they send most huntress teams into the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall for basic scouting but on occasion, for gifted teams, which we are, they will likely send us into the costal caverns to clear out the grimm. Those are longer missions and we should prep accordingly."

Even Yang was silent as the team processed the information that Weiss had extracted.

"So… Towels?" Yang asked, attempting to crack a joke of some kind.

"Basic survival kits, with a focus on fire starting," Blake interjected, "We can't afford to waste dust on fire, and the caverns can get notoriously cold in bad conditions."

"What about food?" Ruby fretted, "Most of the local wildlife is gone cause of over fishing, we need rations for however long we're going to be down there."

"Plan it out Ruby," Weiss said curtly, "it can't be too heavy, and I need to pack my dust."

Weiss was tapping things into the calculator on the scroll, numbers flickering absently through the crystal screen.

"Me?!" Ruby sputtered, "But I'm…"

"The leader," Weiss hissed, "It's part of your job, no?"

"Hey, that's my sister you're talking to!" Yang snarled protectively.

"Then help her," Weiss said curtly, glyphs quickly sending her tray away, Weiss quickly closed her scroll and stood up from the table, ready to leave. A thin hand shot out and grasped onto Weiss' jacket, ice blue eyes flared in response.

Blake lightly reached up and murmured quietly in her ear.

Weiss sighed quietly in response before leaning gently into the black haired girl, a hushed "thanks" was whispered before she stalked out of the cafeteria, head held high like the royalty of old.

Yang blinked curiously at Blake, a Cheshire smile slipping across her face, "So… not happy ehh? What happened between you two?"

Blake blinked at that, what was she supposed to say? That she had seen her teammate topless and then she had tackled her before going on to have a nice spar in the morning?

"Nothing much," Blake replied coolly, picking at her salmon with a fork.

And that she had just asked the heiress out to coffee again for the second time that week?

Not likely.

Still she had said yes, and a small spark of happiness had coursed through her heart when she had heard the acceptance.

"Nothing at all," Blake continued.

* * *

"Your assignment is quite simple," Ozpin said, while nonchalantly sipping at his coffee, "The coastal towns have always had issues with Grimm resurgences every time the moon reforms, the tide surges with the fracturing of the moon and its quite customary to send promising young huntresses like yourselves to clear them out."

The four teen huntresses in front of his desk stood resolutely at attention, even Yang knowing better than to say a word while the headmaster was speaking.

Ozpin quickly pulled out a small mission file, uploading it to his scroll and sending it over to Ruby in a well practiced flick of his wrist.

"Your mission will be to clear out the deepest of the caves, the estimated time this mission should take it around two weeks. You are encouraged to explore, and anything you find is yours to keep. I do remind you though, that this is your first mission and I expect you to come back alive. Questions?"

A negative from each of the members of team RWBY and a nod of dismissal saw them all out of the room in moments.

"Good research Weiss," Ruby said finally, quickly scanning the missive that Ozpin had sent her.

"Why thank you," Weiss said dryly, meticulously checking the vials of dust in her bag, "I would like think that I could find public mission records without much difficulty."

"Bah, enough about that!" Yang cried, boisterous as ever, "What did he mean when he said that whatever we find is ours to keep? Are we talking treasure?"

The blonde's eyes glinted with ecstatic excitement.

"The eastern coast has had a long history of sunken ships," Blake said demurely, "The unpredictable tides usually end up sending the ships into the coast where the Grimm usually make quick work of them."

"Man how cool would it be if we found treasure?!" Yang said with a chuckle, ignoring the scandalized look of Weiss, "Just think of all the hair products, all the tech, all the sweet rides we could buy."

"It would be pretty cool…" Ruby agreed, dreamily envisioning a lifetime's supply of chocolate chip cookies in her mind.

"The likelihood of that is quite low," Weiss said curtly, "The Grimm eat most of the valuable cargo in the first place, most of what's left is just junk."

"Kill joy," Yang muttered, following Ruby.

"We have around a day to prep," Ruby finally said seriously, looking at each of the members of her team, "Thankfully, with Weiss' work, we already have a head start. So… try to pack… but if not I guess we can take the day… off?"

Ruby mumbled the end tentatively.

"I have an errand to attend to anyway," Weiss said imperiously, crystal blue eyes somewhat pleased at the praise Ruby heaped on her, "Would you care to accompany me Blake?"

"Sure," Blake said with a smile, "Just let me check that I have all my books packed first."

"Books?" Weiss asked amused, leading the way up into their shared dorm, "I would think that's the least of our priorities."

"Maybe not to you," Blake jibed back, unconsciously stepping closer to her partner, "But some of us to have other priorities than keeping vials of fairy dust."

"You cretin!" Weiss snapped back good naturedly, "I'll have you know that dust powers…"

The voices died out as the pair entered the elevator, conversation comfortably flowing between the duo.

"You know, it's a little scary how quickly they got comfortable with each other," Yang commented, looking at the pair with interest, "Ya think Ruby?"

"I mean… it's a lot better than how they were at the beginning of the year," Ruby said, "I really don't mind, as long as they don't get _gross _with each other."

"_Gross?" _Yang asked curiously.

"I mean… they act a little like how Mom used to act around Dad, it's a little gross sometimes." Ruby said childishly.

"Oh Ruby, my dear young innocent little sister, let Yang here tell you how these things go down," Yang said, slinging an arm boisterously around the shoulders of her sister.

"Well… before I start, has did Qrow give you the _talk _yet?"

"Umm…"

"So Ruby, when two people love each other very mu-"

"YANG!"

* * *

Nora's dull orange hair exploded into Jaune's field of view like some living fire cracker.

Dragged along for the ride was Ren, who looked far too comfortable rocketing around the room at mach one velocity. Ren gave Jaune a wave and a small smile before he was sent twirling around the room as Nora caught sight of Ruby and Yang entering the dining hall.

Jaune couldn't hear much, but he could easily see Nora's animated body flickering around along with the ecstatic look on her face. Jaune sighed, thinking about dragging Nora away from pestering Ruby and Yang about their mission assignment, before he decided against it.

There was no doubt that team RWBY was the most well prepared of all the teams. Professor Williams literally sang the praises of the two swordswomen on the team, calling them the perfect harmony of eastern and western swordplay. Both academically and physically (although Weiss mostly carried them academically), Team RWBY was head and shoulders above the rest.

Therefore, he had no qualms about picking their brains so to speak. He personally felt that he needed all the help he could get. Although, as ruby red hair danced in the sunlight, he was reminded that he also had the considerable talents of Pyrrha to call upon.

At the very least, she would be there to clean up his mistakes.

Pyrrha was the easily undisputed queen of one on one combat, and only Weiss and Blake working in tandem could fight the girl to a standstill. Ruby and Yang could come close, but Ruby and Yang had none of the cohesion that the semblances of Weiss and Blake had. Weiss' glyphs were a perfect support to Blake's natural agility and shadows, and the long range dust attacks could easily over power Pyrrha when she turtled behind her shield.

"Team JNPR?" Professor Goodwitch announced loudly, strutting out of Ozpin's office.

Nora shot forward like an eager puppy, Ren still in tow, "Here!" She yelled excitedly, bouncing up and down on her two feet.

Crocea Mors slipped smoothly into his hand and he clipped the simple sword and shield onto his belt. The blade was heavy at his hip, even as he felt Pyrrha's encouraging smile push him forwards.

"Here," Jaune said simply, looking at Goodwitch with nervous anticipation.

Professor Goodwitch fixed him with an appraising glare, before she beckoned toward the elaborate oak door of the headmaster.

"Ozpin will see you now," She said, moving away to fill what appeared to be a coffee mug.

A sense of trepidation was crawling across Jaune's skin, but regardless, he stepped into the office. The splendid view of the grounds of Beacon was the first thing Jaune noticed, the back wall of the office almost entirely composed of glass. The room was somewhat eccentric, but Spartan, occasional little knick knacks dotting the sparse furniture.

As he watched, what looked to be an old clock of some kind slowly ticked downwards before glowing with a light that could only be aura.

"It's an auric clock, " Ozpin said quietly.

Jaune started, noticing the headmaster slouched in a simple chair, staring out at the magnificent view of Beacon.

"When I was a hunter, they were indispensable, the face shows either the time or the level of aura, depending on whether the user decides to stream their aura through it or not. Quite useful for checking time in the field and preventing aura exhaustion." Ozpin continued blandly.

"That's –"

"SO COOL!" Nora yelped, immediately darting forward to examine the delicate pocket watch sized contraption.

"I wonder how it work-"

Crunch.

Jaune stared in morbid shock as he watched the delicate instrument shatter under Nora's heavy handed grip.

"Whoops," Nora said cheerily, ignoring the scandalized glares of the rest of her team, "Sorry Ozpin!"

Ozpin rolled his eyes, a tired sigh coming from his lips. A flicker of steel gray light bathed the office, the exact shade of Ozpin's hair. The corpse of the auric clock slowly floated off the table, aura straightening out the damage from Nora's grip.

"The first mission of every hunter team is given by the Headmaster," Ozpin said blankly, watching the face of the clock slowly reassemble itself, "It is generally considered a way for the Headmaster to evaluate their students and pose a proper challenge, a substitute for the ritual hunts that olden hunters used as a rite of passage."

The aura died out as the auric clock gently settled itself back onto the wood of Ozpin's desk.

"Your mission will be in the Forest of Forever Fall, there have been reports of various Deathstalker and Nevermore outbreaks in the area. A challenge for most experienced hunters, but I have faith that you can pull it off." Ozpin said serenely, eyes languidly evaluating Jaune.

Jaune flinched, he knew what that look meant. It was a test of sorts, a sort of challenge. It was to prove that he was worthy of being in the school of Beacon, the most prestigious Hunter Academy on Remnant.

"I almost envy you," Ozpin continued, "The Forest is quite beautiful this time in the fall."

A nimble hand dexterously pulled out a scroll from the folds of his robe and tapped at the small screen.

A small beep echoed from the scroll at Jaune's belt.

Ozpin's eyes returned to starting back at the scenery of Beacon.

"Dismissed."

* * *

"Are you excited?" Blake asked curiously, sipping from her coffee as she watched the heiress mix cream and sugar into her own porcelain mug.

"For?" Weiss asked dryly, lifting a delicate eyebrow.

"The new edition of _Vale Style_," Blake said with a small smile, "No, the mission."

"While I am actually excited for the new edition of _Vale Style," _Weiss said, "I personally will be grateful if we complete our mission in a timely manner without resorting to auto cannibalism."

"Auto cannibalism?" Blake asked with a laugh, "I personally think that Yang had much more calories on her than you."

"While that may be true, I don't think she'd taste that good," Weiss replied with a small smile, "But in all seriousness, I do hope that Ruby packs actual food as opposed to chocolate chip cookies."

"If Yang is with her, then I think we're fine," Blake reassured, ignoring the insistent look from Weiss as she paid for both of their drinks.

"The day that Yang Xiao Long becomes a symbol of reassurance will be a very dark day indeed," Weiss said frostily, "Likely the day that the last cities fall and Grimm decimate the entire population."

"Yang isn't _that _bad," Blake said, offering a token defense for their absent teammate.

"If you call the constant innuendos not bad," Weiss retorted, even as she flipped casually through her scroll, checking up on what appeared to be stocks.

"I've heard worse," Blake said calmly, omitting the fact that she had read far worse in her… adult fiction collections.

"Then I pity you," Weiss said offhandedly, scanning through her portfolio.

A short furrow in her brow signaled the imminent winter storm, and Blake hastened to mitigate its effects.

"Something wrong?" Blake asked curiously.

"It seems that the Grimm attacks on the ocean have been increasing in frequency," Weiss said, annoyed, "There's no other reason that a shipping company backed by Atlas would lose so much of their cargo."

Shipping company. The words reminded Blake forcibly of the containers that she and Adam had infiltrated and _liberated _from the Schnee Dust company. Thinking about it, the large amounts of infantry drones had been quite similar to the model that the Atlas army preferred…

Another White Fang raid?

Impossible, while the White Fang were capable of sabotaging most train operations, boats were a far more difficult ordeal. The White Fang simply didn't have the technology to hijack ships so far out on the open seas.

Inwardly somewhat relieved, Blake absently watched Weiss reallocate her funds to other stocks.

"Why stocks?" Blake asked curiously, "I would think that you would be more invested in corporate and government bonds at your age."

"Are you questioning my financial capabilities?" Weiss asked dryly, Blake's vehement protests to the contrary curbed her ire, and she continued, "While ordinarily, government bonds are more stable and provide more certain returns, I find that the volatility of the stock market can be well exploited if one has the… _talents _for the task."

"So you think it's a challenge?" Blake questioned.

"Of course," Weiss replied, "There is nothing interesting about bonds, you invest in them and a couple years later they give you a seven percent return. The stock market on the other hand… you'd be surprised how much investing relates to being a hunter."

"Oh?" Blake asked curiously, never before hearing someone equate hunting to _investing _of all things.

"Of course," Weiss sniffed imperiously, "Operating under conditions where one has little access to future conditions and making swift decisions with limited intelligence and committing even when the situation seems hopelessly dire."

"But I digress," Weiss finished, eyes suddenly pinning Blake with their quiet intensity, "But what about you, Blake? What do you like to do?"

"Me?" Blake asked, somewhat uncomfortable with being questioned about her life, "I just read I guess."

"Well I gathered that," Weiss said dryly, causing a small blush to appear on Blake's cheeks, "I was more referring to _what _you like to read."

"Fantasy mostly," Blake said casually, "Or science fiction."

"A world with little to no grounding in real life," Weiss critiqued calmly, "Might I ask why?"

"Because… it's interesting," Blake offered lamely.

"Interesting?" Weiss asked amused, looking far too content rattling Blake at the moment.

"In fiction, a person can become anything," Blake said finally, after taking a moment to gather her thoughts, "I can be a villain, a peasant, a pauper, a prince."

"I can live in a world where dragons fly in the sky, or one where people can actually swim in the sea and live without the fear of Grimm, "Blake said passionately, "Ones, where I'm not judged for who I am."

Weiss' eyes softened, ice melting into cool water.

"I see," Weiss said simply, "That is a valid point."

Blake nodded, unsure of what else to say.

"But I do hope that one day, the world you're dreaming of can become a reality," Weiss said simply, looking out into the streets of Vale.

"Weiss…" Blake began, feeling her heart thud in her chest. Did she really mean that? Did the heiress of the Schnee company , the company that had enslaved her race for as long as she could remember, really want the world to be a place of equality?

She wondered, a bit bitterly, if Weiss would be willing to say the same thing if she removed her bow and revealed her ears. She had very little doubt that Weiss would not be so willing to endorse such sentiments.

"Blake," Weiss said simply, "It'll be alright."

It was a simple statement of truth, said with utter certainty.

She smiled then, a genuine smile, filled with a soft sort of happiness despite the tinge of sadness that ran through it, laced with memories best left untouched.

_Beautiful. _The word raced through Blake's head like an unexpected clap of lightning.

"One day," Blake said finally.

"I hope so Belladonna," Weiss teased, tugging Blake toward the entrance of the café.

"Let's get back, I really don't want to leave the room with those dunces for longer than an hour," Weiss said.


End file.
